Hangar 72
by musicnotes093
Summary: How was he supposed to know that the girl who's befriended him and the acquaintances he's made are all villains in the superhero world's Most Wanted list? (Second in the 10th Year Anniversary series.)
1. Dragons, Dragons, Dragons

**Title:** _"_ _Hangar 72"_

 **Rating:** T

 **Genre:** adventure, friendship

 **Character(s):** Leo, a host of OCs, the Davenports, the Mighty Med trio

 **Pairing(s):** Dasha, Skoliver, OC/OC, Leo/Skylar

 **Summary:** How was he supposed to know that the girl who's befriended him and the acquaintances he's made are all villains in the superhero world's Most Wanted list? (Second in the 10th Year Anniversary series.)

 **Notes:** On December 31st, 2017, I reached my 10th year as a writer here on FF. This is just part of a series of stories that serve as gifts to myself. :) Just a head's up: this story will be a little unpleasant but honest in tone in some spots. You'll see in the opening paragraphs what I mean. If it's not something you think you'd enjoy, I will not be hurt if you click back into the archives.

Thanks in advance for reading.

 **Disclaimer:** Lab Rats, Mighty Med characters, and everything else recognizable are owned by their creators. The OCs and their consequences in this story, though, are all mine.

* * *

Chapter One

 ** _Dragons, Dragons, Dragons_**

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

At nearly a month short of 20, Leo is absolutely sure of one thing: he's sick and tired of this. It's not even the kind of sick and tired where it's like having peanut butter sandwich every day, the kind where you grow weary of a favorite but you know you'll eventually come back to it days or weeks down the line.

No. It's the kind where you realize that throughout the years you've been making the same kind of sandwich with the same bread, same peanut butter, same knife, same cut, same way, same bite. Where just the thought of it immediately instigates this sweet and bitter-stale taste on your tongue.

The one that makes you scrunch your face in displeasure and want to have a ham and cheese sandwich instead. That kind of sick and tired.

Of course, in this analogy, there is no way his family is the peanut butter sandwich. Obviously, he cares about them still. But he guesses the usual consequences within their unusual family are what had become distasteful and unpleasant.

Here's the context to this conclusion: two days ago, a time traveler from the future (as always) popped up in Centium City in a sleek black suit and a manic state of mind. The tall, handsome man (as always) tells them that he comes from the future where everything has gone awry (as always).

When asked what happened, he said someone in this point in time will be taken to the wrong path, someone who has the power to tip the balance between the superheroes and the villains, and his mission is to stop it from happening (as always).

When asked who it was, the time traveler said he doesn't know, which is a bit surprising. The only clues he was able to gather before fleeing his present is that the subject is male, intelligent, and once had a good heart.

He also said that the subject is of the Davenport family.

Ever since then, the family's been on high alert. It's a universally accepted fact now that the potential abductee is either Chase or Daniel, though they really lean towards Chase. The Centium City five plus the time traveler have agreed to stay in Mission Creek for the meantime until the 'Danger Period' passes, until the time traveler sees in his indicator that the future had changed.

That's what got to him, the realization that another great adventure has begun and he's once again expected to sit in the back and be a comic relief or be the wildcard that someone only pulls out just to move the game forward.

He's getting way too old for this. He loves Adam, Bree, and Chase, but he doesn't quite like the fact that the spotlight is always on them. He sees that in the way people's eyes twinkle when they look at them and the way their parents brim with pride whenever they're identified with the legendary trio. Fun things always happen to just them, too. One or all of them are always the chosen ones.

The dragons are always theirs to slay, the victory always theirs to claim. And in their world, there are always going to be cantankerous bad guys to put in jail or to stop from 'ruling the world.' There will always be dragons, dragons, dragons.

It's almost like his whole life has become this one big Disney show where he's been unfortunately assigned to be the obnoxious but generally unimportant character.

 _Is it because I'm black?_ Leo wonders, his eyes narrowed as he takes a sip of his steaming peppermint mocha cappuccino.

Either way, he's just gotten sick and tired of it. So rather than stew at home in this state of indifference, he decides to just get out of the house and let the superheroes deal with this problem.

Leo plugs his ear buds in after putting down his cup on the table then presses play on his phone. As a motivating video game music streams into his eardrums, he picks up his mechanical pencil and props up one of his graph notebooks to finish his homework.

Lately, he's just been enjoying this somewhat hectic but overall rudimentary routine. When he graduated high school, he told his stepfather that he doesn't want to be a hero anymore, which, in retrospect, is probably where it all started. He realized then that he wants something else for himself, something that would actually make him happy. He likes helping people, but he can sense that he was just doing it out of desperation to be seen.

He didn't like that feeling of being desperate, of being willing to do almost anything just to be seen.

So he told his stepfather that he was done, and he asked Douglas to turn off his abilities.

It's a little depressing to remember how his stepfather didn't protest much to that idea. One 'Are you sure?' sufficed for him. Douglas was a bit more persistent. He was more bothered about it because, he said, 'This doesn't sound like you.' His uncle really cared, but in the end he went ahead with the plan.

Leo still lives with his parents (he just doesn't have the money to move out like that) and is taking classes at a respectable community college. The flair of universities and big colleges lost their appeal, too. He realized that he doesn't have the patience anymore to sit in classes that he doesn't even care about or the audacity to pay hundreds of dollars every month for it.

He wants to build as soon as he can. He wants to learn the guidelines of how to do it because there are many projects and ideas in his mind that are itching to coalesce into something material, into something he can touch.

He doesn't want to spend the next years behind a book, hidden again from sight and from living life.

Schoolwork has been kicking his butt, of course, especially as the school year begins to wind down. He's almost sure that the curriculum is bent on burning him out as much as possible. Nonetheless, it's still tolerable all in all. His purpose of doing all of it is close to being met, and he actually likes the benefit of being able to sit in his favorite coffee shop downtown, in his little corner away from everyone, and to be able to act like a college kid.

Leo wrinkles then scratches his nose when a pungent scent hits his nostrils. Ahmed, the nice barista who lets him have free refills, sometimes have the habit of burning a customer's order, so he thinks nothing of it. He continues on his work, completing the formula on the blue square-riddled page, then moves on to the next one. He even hums along a familiar beat a few minutes later, increasing the volume and never bothering to look back.

He nearly jumps out of his seat when a girl walks up to his table from behind. She doesn't look too intimidating, although from her black leather jacket, black leather boots, and black everything else he gets the impression that she wants to come across as such. The light hanging over his table only sheds lights on half of her face so he has to lean forward and squint to see if she's rudely glaring at him or just staring.

Upon closer look, the answer is C: looking at him as if he's a new but misplaced art in a museum.

"Can I help you?" Leo asks after pulling off his right ear bud.

She looks at him longer as if not sure what to make of him. Suddenly, she smirks. She glances down at his nearly empty cup, looks him in the eye, and demands, "That looks good."

Demands, because there's a look in her smoky eyes that tells him she wants him to hand it to her.

Another unpleasant smells hits his nose, but it's milder this time. There's even a hint of sweetness, something floral. "It's peppermint mocha cappuccino, 5.25 for the big cup," he tells her, because there's no way he's gonna share it with her.

She draws back a little, her face cleared in shock as if he's insulted her. But eventually, the smirk comes back, clearer and a bit more sinister than ever. "You're interesting," she says. Then, she leaves.

He narrows his eyes. What was that about? He eventually just rolls his eyes and shakes his head. _People are so weird nowadays,_ he dismisses as he plugs his earphone back in and continues on his homework.

And for another hour and a half he sits there, humming and mumbling to himself, not even realizing that the customers and employees in the coffee shop are all sprawled out on the ground, gassed into a helpless sleep.


	2. Two Years, Seventy-Two Days

Chapter Two

 _ **Two Years, Seventy-Two Days**_

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

The sun's just gone to bed by the time he gets home. It bothers him a little to remember how shaken and out of it the people in the coffee shop seems when he left. They all have these funny, drugged look in their eyes, but he thinks he might just be imagining it. He _does_ feel a little spent, so maybe that's why everyone looks as if they've been through the wringer, too.

It's quiet when he comes through the front door, and his suspicion is that the cavalry is downstairs, plotting what they need to do against this great evil that is the future. He doesn't even glance at the elevator that can lead him there. Instead, he goes to the fridge, takes a bottle of water, grabs the whole Ziploc of mini muffulettas that his parents bought for their anniversary last week, and then heads on over to his room.

He's setting down his haul when his mother appears in front of his door, obviously distracted by the fussy two year-old wriggling violently in her arms. "HiHoneyHow'sYourDay," Tasha says, and he can't decide whether it's a question, a statement, or a short line from a rap song.

"It's all right—"

"Great."

He notices then that she's not even looking at him. Her eyes are just on Naomi. _Like it's always been these past two years._ A supercilious smile comes to his face. "Yeah. I did my homework, went to Alaska, and I'm _pretty sure_ Jennifer Aniston has a crush on me."

"That's great, honey. Really good."

If it wasn't mean, Leo would have laughed. Instead, he contents himself by chuckling. "Mom, do you need some help?" he asks.

"Oh, uh, no, sweetheart. Thanks." Tasha adjusts Naomi in her arms, but from his standpoint she looks to be losing this physical battle. "I just – I'm sorry, I can't stay and chat. Your sister, she's..."

Leo doesn't really know what comes next because his mother just walks away without finishing her sentence. It amuses him, like it always has, but a part of him dies every time afterwards because even his mother rarely pays attention to him anymore.

His stepfather has told him that it's not right to be jealous; Naomi is just a baby. He should yield because he's the big brother here.

But it doesn't change the fact that even in his mother's eyes he has to take a backseat, too. His mother always tells him that she loves him just the same, but saying it and actually showing it are two different things.

That's what stings, he thinks – that he's jealous and wants _some_ of the attention he used to have, something that's decidedly not wrong in itself, but there's nothing he can do about it.

He plops down on his computer chair then wiggles his laptop back to life. He types in his password then rips open the Ziploc bag as the computer thinks. The graphics program displaying his current blueprint in progress pops up as he's chewing on his first bite of a cold and slightly soggy muffuletta.

He spends the next indefinite minutes leaning towards the screen as he adds more detail to his newest project, X-043. The reason for the name is actually less impressive than the product. It's X because, like all the other that precedes it, he doesn't know what to name it, and 043 because it's the forty-third of his projects.

X-043 is shaping up to be one of his best yet, though, and if he manages to put it together just as he's designed it, he might just have something dynamic in his hands.

He got the idea after a conversation with an older lady supervising a kiosk at the school grounds. He sees her regularly, and he's made it a point to stop by and just say hi. One day, she asked how everything was going for him, and his 'It's going okay' was a little less convincing than usual. She managed to coax out the truth that he was getting too frazzled with his siblings calling him nonstop after their big three-way fight just so they can complain about each other.

'They don't even ask how I'm doing,' he told her.

Freya, the older lady, had nodded sympathetically. 'Well, fights are tough,' she agreed.

'Should I just pick a side and make it easier on myself? That'd at least stop two of them from blowing up my phone.'

'Well, I think the situation calls for you to be a lightning rod.'

'A lightning rod?'

She nodded then smiles. 'Anger and frustration from others are like lightning: it'll harm us if we absorb it. That's why when we hear it, when we sense it, we have to let it pass through us and diffuse it to the ground, somewhere where it will not hurt anyone.'

It made a lot of sense.

Besides the super useful advice, the exchange also produced a What If. What if there is such a portable device that can absorb a highly concentrated energy such as lightning and release it in increments as needed? There are many parts of the world, many cities, many smaller islands and groups that can benefit from that. Imagine how easier and brighter life would be for them.

Of course, there are many issues that arise. He did a test run on a small scale prototype, but the thing went up in flames when he introduced a voltage equal to lightning to it.

 _It'd be so cool if this works,_ Leo thinks. He hasn't quite decided yet if he wants this to be manufactured by Davenport Industries because he does want it to be specially only for people who need it. He's been around the business world long enough to know how aggressive commercialism can be. While he knows that his stepfather will listen to him and abide by his wishes, the other copycat companies probably won't.

They'd leave them behind, the people who actually need it, in favor of the people who live their lives in bottomless wants.

Leo tilts back his water bottle only to realize it's empty. After frowning at it and realizing it won't fill up by just his stare, he gets up and heads for the kitchen again.

It surprises him to find Skylar sitting alone by the island, a disconnected look in her eyes as she stares down at her clasped hands.

Skylar Storm. She's 18 now, last he's heard, but her features are still as ethereal as ever. Her hair has been cut shorter, her pink streak gone and exchanged for bright caramel highlights that reminds him of late afternoon sunlight filtering through slants of shut blinds.

She's beautiful, and he knows that will never change.

Another thing he also knows is that cultivating any attraction to her will just end up in disappointment. From the way Bree talked about the raveling and unraveling of the great Skoliver, it's clear that she's off-limits. Bro Code, she said, that Chase and Kaz agreed on with Oliver to spare his feelings and prevent any complication.

He doesn't even know why that should apply to him; he's not even in their team. But he guesses it's one of those widely accepted taboos, one that, if Chase says it's unacceptable, everybody must agree that it is.

So now to the rest of the team and the Davenports, Skylar Storm should not be on the date list. She's kind of like that popular pretty girl that the Class President dated and broke up with, and if you dare date her without the other populars' permission you risk getting beaten into a pulp. Or, worse, isolated.

 _This is stupid,_ Leo thinks after he catches himself wondering if he should say hi. _I don't even go to their school._ Ever defiant, he goes to the fridge and greets her. "Hey."

"Oh. Hey."

Leo smirks at her after getting his water. She's staring at him blankly, and he thinks he knows why. "Do you remember who I am?" he asks.

"Um, Leo, right?"

"That's $200 on the board." He chuckles when she smiles. "What are you doing up here? Are you okay? Do you need..."

"No, uh, I'm okay," she says. She looks down again on her thumbs. Her eyes soften, as if there she can read an answer she doesn't want to accept.

"Is everything all right down at the lab?" he gently presses.

Skylar nods. The smile on her face is still sad. "It's a little exhausting trying to figure out when Chase will be attacked by these people who's supposed to turn him evil."

"Ah. So where did you put him?"

Her brows wrinkle. "Where did we put him?"

"Yeah, like – did you put him inside his capsule, inside one of the panic rooms, or is he just roaming around?"

"Oh. Well, general rule is that he must be in our sight at all times."

He grins maliciously. "Even the restroom?"

"That's an exception." She sits up. "How have you been doing? Last time we met, it was at Mighty Med, right?"

Leo nods, the grin on his face waning. "By the way, I'm sorry to hear about your friends," he says. "They didn't deserve what happened to them."

Sadness flashes in her features again, but now it's accompanied by loneliness and pain and helplessness.

He thinks he just accidentally tore open the dam, and he feels bad about it. "I'm sorry."

"No. Don't be," she says. "Nobody talks about them, you know? It's nice to actually be able to." She gathers her thoughts for a minute, and then she continues, "I count. Two years, seventy-two days. But it seems like it's just yesterday."

"I get that."

"I don't even know why I feel horrible. I only knew them for two years, and we're not even that close."

"It's horrible because they should have been around longer," Leo says. Thoughtfully, he admits, "I think that's just the nature of it: we grieve because of the things that was before and isn't anymore."

"Did you lose someone, too?"

"Yeah. My grandpa, about eight years ago. A year before Mom got married." He smiles sadly, and now he understands the weight of it on his face. "I still remember him."

"Do you talk about him still?"

"I think about him regularly." He shrugs. "That probably counts, too."

Skylar chuckles, her load lighter. "How have you been?" she says. "Three years is a long time. You must've been busy."

"Yeah. Just school in general."

Her head tilts. "School? Like...?"

"Regular school," he says.

"Oh," she says. "Chase talks about school a lot."

"Why am I not surprised," Leo says jokingly.

The elevator then suddenly hisses open. From it steps out a black-clad gentleman with a tight, linear hairline and features so bright and chiseled it looks Photoshopped. Even his strides appear choreographed and rehearsed. _Must be the time traveler,_ Leo concludes in dismay. As a consolation, his brain suddenly introduces the idea of Will Smith taking the part of the time traveler if ever their lives are made into a movie.

The time traveler catches sight of him and abruptly halts. He blinks then asks, "Who are you?"

The troublemaker side of him lights up with ideas. Out of all the tempting choices, he picks one of the tamer ones: "I'm Douglas Davenport's conscience."

"Oh." The visitor waves widely towards the kitchen then says, "In that case, grab me a drink, will ya? I don't know what's available in this timeline, so you can get me whatever tastes good."

"Brannon, he's not really Douglas' conscience," Skylar explains, "he's Leo."

Brannon the Time Traveler cocks his brows at him. "I don't really care what his name is," he says. "If he's going to be funny, I can be, too."

Leo smirks. Meanwhile, Skylar insists, "Well, you _should._ This is Donald Davenport's youngest son."

The visitor eyes him. Leo thinks if he turns up his nose on him any higher, he might just be able to see his brain from where he stands. "Your last name Davenport?"

"No."

"Then you're not his son."

Simple logic, simple answer.

 _Hm. Fair enough._ "I'll talk to you later, Skylar," Leo tells the offended girl with an amused smile. He can't even get himself to be mad at the outcome of that conversation; he did start it.

So he goes back to his room to work more on X-043. He forgets about the visitor and their exchange all too quickly simply because none of it was important anyways.

Brannon, his attitude, and his consequences in this timeline are, in all brutal honesty, not part of his problem anymore.


	3. Special Special

Chapter Three

 _ **Special Special**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

Leo goes to the park two days later, his messenger bag filled with his inventions sketchbook, wallet, keys, a bottle of water, some granola bars that his mother heard of and raved about for three months but got tired of after the second bar, and a science fiction novel that he borrowed from the library a week ago. He just can't stay in the house this afternoon. Apparently, another clue showed up about the identity of the Chosen One, and while it obviously points to Chase ('an inventor,' the new clue indicates), everybody's acting as if it's a total game changer.

He can't stand the drama of it all, but what he can't stand the most is the time traveler's face. He acts like the perfectly perfect good guy when around the superhero team, as if they're all in a billion dollar movie and in those moments all cameras are on him. He speaks with this determined conviction whenever he promises Chase and their family that he will protect him, that he's seen what the future brings and in no way, shape, or form would he let them and the people of this time go through the horrors he went through.

Barf.

If there was something going through a horror right now, it's his hair. The thing hasn't moved or changed its shape whatsoever in days. _What'd you put on that, tar?_ he wants to ask him yesterday but thought the better of it.

It's one of his rare free days today, a Friday to make it a three-day weekend, and he actually wants to enjoy it. His mother is off to work tonight, and Naomi is with their grandmother and aunt, so he really had no reason to stay at home.

Leo lets himself get lost in the novel. It's been a while since he read for leisure, so he's determined to get the book finished within these three days. The plot is interesting, and the writing isn't flowery. _I could finish this,_ he thinks as he turns the page.

He's halfway through the next side when he feels the bench shift slightly under him. He looks up to smile politely at the person who's sat down, which he figures might be one of the many joggers out that afternoon, but the familiar girl smirking at him stops it short.

"Missed me?"

"You again?" he asks.

"Yes. Me again," she says. She takes a sip from her café du jour before leaning back and looking out to the wide, well-manicured park. "In case you're wondering, this is not an accident. I tracked you down."

"Okay...?"

"Like I said, you're interesting."

Leo frowns at her. _What in the world is happening?_ He closes his book. "I mean, did I do anything to offend you? Because I'll be honest, you're weirding me out."

She chuckles. "You didn't do anything to offend me, but you did do something that no one's done before." Another sip, then, "Like I said, you're special. I wanna know why."

Leo blinks. "Okay, I'm leaving."

"If you stay, I'll tell you a secret."

Leo stops in his tracks. He turns around, raises his eyebrows.

She smiles victoriously. "My name's Vanessa."

Leo narrows his eyes. "Why is that a secret?"

She waves him over. Leo rolls his eyes then sits back down beside her.

She slightly leans towards him. "Because I don't exist."

"You're messing with me," Leo declares, eyeing her suspiciously. " _Of course_ you exist. You're right here. Unless...you're going to turn this into this whole existentialist debate, which in that case I'm really leaving."

"No. I didn't mean it that way," she says, grinning at her coffee cup. "I meant that only a few people know about me, very few."

Leo ponders over that. Unknowingly, he eases back on his seat.

"What's your name?" she asks.

He looks at her indecisively at first. "Leo."

"Leo. Cool. And what do you do?"

"I'm a student."

"Nice. A student specifically of...?"

"Mechanical engineering."

She grins at him, and somehow with the pre-dusk glow of the sun, her smoked out eyes appear deeper. "I'm with a genius," she remarks.

He chuckles, and the sound of it surprises him a little. "I think my GPA would disagree," he says. "I'm managing."

She withdraws to herself for a short moment. "Do you want to know what determines whether a person is smart?"

"What."

"How they use what they know. You can have all this knowledge in your head, but if you don't use it, what good is it really?"

Leo has to nod at that; it's true. "What about you? What do you do?"

A sinister smirk pulls at her lips. "I'm...always on the run," she answers discreetly.

On the run. Not _I'm always running,_ which would've implied that she's either a jogger or an athlete. She said _I'm always on the run,_ like someone is after her. "Are you safe?" he asks, the words coming out of his mouth before he can think about it.

For the first time, a particular softness comes to her features. It's only magnified by the warm, appreciative smile—another first—that follows right after. "I am. I've got friends to watch my back, and, like I said, I don't exist." She takes another sip of her drink. "It's kind of hard to go after something that doesn't exist."

Leo just nods, acknowledging that she has closed that topic for today.

"So tell me, Leo: what are you doing out here on this fine day?"

Leo shrugs. "Just reading a book."

"I didn't think you'd be an introvert type."

"I'm not. I just wanted to get out of the house."

"You've got no friends to meet?"

Leo shakes his head. "My friends are thousands of miles away. Though, I think we're more of just acquaintances now. We barely talk, and they're all so busy with their lives."

Her lower lip pushes up thoughtfully, her head tilting to the side. "Do you miss them?"

Leo takes a deep breath then releases an even deeper sigh. "I don't really know," he admits.

She looks out to the park, and whatever she sees there satisfies her. "My friend once told me that friends should also feel like home. Did they ever feel like home?"

All too quickly, the answer comes. No. Taylor, Logan and he only became Taylor, Logan, and Leo because it was convenient.

"Don't feel bad," she says like she has read his mind. "True friends aren't easy to find nowadays."

"What about you? Do you have friends?"

"Oh yes."

"And they feel like home?"

She smiles. "That's all I've ever known them to be."

Leo nods. "That's neat."

"Yeah. We're a pack. We stick together like wolves."

The words hang above them like clouds in the silence that ensues. Leo mulls over it, the possibility of having a family so tightly knit that being together comes as a law of nature. These past few years, everything he's thought of solid has crumbled and fallen apart.

The relationships around him, thankfully with the exception of his parents and his maternal family, have eroded like ancient civilizations that they only now display in museums. The glory of each has faded with time. As he looks upon them now, all that remains is the foundation and a few things that were strong enough to stand the test of time.

As he thinks about the words that she said, another comes back to mind. "You said you tracked me down."

The smile on her face grows a little more. "Will you believe me if I told you I'm special?" she asks.

"I...think we're all a little special."

She chuckles. "No, not ordinary special. _Special_ special."

His brows draw together in confusion. "In what way?"

She looks straight at him with those deep, dark eyes of hers again. "Haven't you noticed anything odd since I got here?" she asks. She nods at the scene in front of them. "Go ahead. I'll give you a couple of minutes."

Doing as she says, Leo scans the landscape. At first, he doesn't see anything different. There are still people walking around, alone or in groups. There's now a family of ducks strutting by the other side of the park – or at least they look like ducks to him from this distance. The sky's more orange now, with hints of darker blue teasing in the sky. Other than that...

Immediately, it jumps out to him. People. Ducks. All of them are on the other side of the park. He looks from side to side, just to see if any of the joggers that passed by him earlier are coming back, but he notices that no other living thing besides the trees and the grass are there with them.

He scoffs. "I can't believe this," he says, standing up.

"Why is it so surprising? My research tells me your stepsiblings are bionic superheroes. You're not new to the concept of abilities," she says before taking a long sip of her drink.

"Look, I don't know what you expect me to do here, all right? But this is exactly what I'm trying to get away from."

That intrigues her. "Which is?"

" _This!_ Getting dragged back into the world of abilities and superpowers and 'Who's the Most Special of Them All?'" Leo sighs. It's really not worth the outburst. "Look, let me make this clear before I ask you the same question for the third time: I don't have abilities anymore. Whatever's here inside my arm and in my leg are just there as a prosthetics. I can't do anything special like my siblings can. I am not special; I realize that. The superhero world is just not for me. It's never been for me, and I'm okay with that."

She laughs, finding his rant adorable.

"Now, again, I will ask you," Leo says, "why did you track me down?"

She smiles sinisterly. "Because, Leo," she says, "if you're not so special, how can you resist what I can do so easily?" She gets up, cradling her coffee safely in one hand while digging through a pocket of her leather jacket with another. "If you're as curious about it as I am, maybe you can come hang out with us," she says, handing him a blank, white business card. "Or, even if you don't want to find out but do want a quiet spot where you can run away from the superhero world, you can come there, too."

"There's nothing on it."

"Of course there is. You're a scientist. All you've gotta do is view it in a different light." With that, she leaves.

Leo doesn't quite understand what she means by that. No matter what angle he tilts the card or how he holds it up to the sun, nothing shows up. He spends another half hour there at the park to figure it out, but by dusk he decides to call it quits and just take it home.

He's still thinking about it after he finishes getting ready for bed. He sits on his desk, staring at the piece of stationery, wondering how it is that he can bring the information to light.

Different light. She said he needs to view it that way.

"What other kind of light is there?" he mumbles in frustration as he turns on his desk light then pulls it above the card like in an interrogation. Natural light doesn't work, fluorescent bulbs don't either. He's tempted to use candlelight, but with his clumsiness he knows he'll just end up burning the thing.

Different light. One that a scientist like him would use.

Of course. "Why didn't you think of that?" Leo yells at himself as he pulls out the topmost desk drawer. He grabs the UV light, turns off the light in his room, and then turns on the handheld object.

 _HANGAR 72_

 _1 BOARHED DIST._

 _SAN MATEO, CA_

 _San Mateo_ _isn't that far away from here,_ Leo realizes.

So he thinks and thinks, weighing the pros and cons as he lies in the darkness and stares at the empty galaxy that is the ceiling. He realizes that what she told him could very well just be bait. She might as well turn out to be someone who's interested in his siblings or the Centium City team, and she wants to use him as a way to get to them. He won't be surprised as she won't be the first to do it.

Or it can be also that she's luring him there to promote a new spot that just opened, which, in that case, would just make this marketing strategy a little too prying and aggressive.

But the more their conversation turns over and over in his mind, the more it seems to him that she has no ill-intent. Even after all these years, his People Radar still functions well. While the girl is a little too secretive and upfront, she's not afraid to be honest about what she thinks. She's intelligent and content. Those three things combined don't spell opportunistic or devious to him.

"So should I go?" he speaks into the darkness.

Only the white noise of the heater answers him.


	4. The Impossible Door

Chapter Four

 _ **The Impossible Door**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

As it turns out, 1 Boarhed District does not exist.

Boarhed District, as threatening as it sounds, _does_ exist. The only problem is the number. He drove through the whole street, from the point it becomes Boarhed District until it turns into Willson Avenue, back and forth twice, but he didn't find the spot. The addresses only go from 5001 to 8995.

No matter how many times he looked, 1 Boarhed District just do not exist.

The GPS says so.

 _Go Travel! Maps Online_ says so.

His eyes say so.

Apparently, everything quantifiable says so.

Pulling into the sidewalk of the 5005 address, which is a pub called McClaren's, it occurs to Leo that Vanessa may have just pulled a prank on him. _But that wouldn't make sense,_ he reasons as he stares at the once again blank business card. _Why would she go through all that trouble just to lead me nowhere?_

Determined to search as thoroughly as he can, he gets out of the car he borrowed from his mother to ask a local.

Finding it the most convenient, Leo steps inside the pub. Since it's only 10:00 in the morning, the place is unsurprisingly nearly empty. It's dark inside, with only the neon lights advertising different liquors bringing some life to the place. There's an old, musty smell lingering in the air also, mixed in with the gentle scent of bacon grease and draft beer.

"Hey, how old are you?"

Leo has to squint in the darkness to see where the question came from. When he finds the guy, a dark-haired bartender wiping the counters clean, he answers, "Oh, um, I'm almost 20."

"Well, Almost 20, you can't be in here," the bartender says. The creases on his features deepen as he nods at the window facing the street. "Didn't you see what it said there? You can only be here at this time of day if you're 21 and older."

"Actually, I only came in to ask a question." Though hesitant now, Leo comes forward with the business card in hand. "Do you know how I can get to 1 Boarhed District?"

The bartender raises his brows. "1 Boarhed District."

"Yes."

"There is no such thing as 1 Boardhed District," the bartender dismisses. "Now leave."

Leo looks around. He catches some of the customers who are getting an early start to their drinking sneakily stealing a glance. He even sees someone smirking then whispering something to his buddies. Still, undeterred, he follows the bartender to the other side. "I'm trying to meet someone there," he tells him.

"Look, kid, I've been working here for eight years. I've been up and down this street and all over this city, I know almost everyone in this block. Believe me, there is no such address here." As he resumes his task of preparing the bar for the night, the bartender distractedly says, "Now, I suggest you leave the place. It's not right for you to be here."

Leo watches as the bartender continues to wipe a rag up and down the counters then in a circular motion. Briefly he wonders if the guy's taken into consideration at all that he's just wiping gunk from one side to the other. "Well," he starts again, causing the bartender to stop and sigh, "do you know if this street continues on elsewhere?"

" _No._ It does not continue on elsewhere. At least not in California," the bartender says. He pauses, glances at the card, then says, "I think what you're looking for here is a place that does not exist. Either the person who gave you the address just pulled a fast one on you, or he or she or whatever wants you to find an impossible door."

"So, what you're saying is..."

"Go home," the bartender says. He chuckles spitefully. "What you're looking for is not up here."

Knowing that the conversation has been determined as done, Leo decides to leave.

The Saturday sun is brighter when he steps outside, but even with that he's still in the dark as to where to go. It's not like he _really_ has to find this spot, but he is rather curious to see what it looks like. Vanessa speaks highly of it, and the name sounds pretty cool. He also doesn't want to come back home right now.

It's been nearly a week since the time traveler with the mismatching name and inappropriate attitude came. The Elite Force can only be on their guard for so long before the vigilance starts to become a bore. There's this prevailing restlessness hanging over the group. They're anxious for the attack to happen, not only because they're ready to spring into action, but because they want it to just be over with.

There's a little tension now, too, between the five, the family, and the time traveler.

Apparently, Skylar told his stepfather and his siblings what Brannon told him that night, and they didn't accept that well. Donald was the one to confront Brannon—calmly, tactfully, but still unhappily—about it in front of the team, and from what Adam told him this morning at breakfast, Time Traveler was embarrassed. He apologized, said it will not happen again, and even gave the father of the family his promise that he will sincerely apologize to his stepson for saying those things.

Those dirty looks Brannon's been darting his way these past two days make sense now.

Still, even with the chiding, the visitor from the future is still ever dutiful to the superhero team. He continues to act and speak like the reliable, humble, and concerned hero he's presented himself to be.

Of course, he happens to be selective as far as who he's going to be nice to, but that doesn't necessarily make him a bad person, right?

Nonetheless, Leo's not in a hurry to come back to the house and experience Brannon's 'niceness' to him, which is probably why he really wants to find this place.

He types the address one more type in his phone's GPS, and like it did earlier, it suggests a different address instead. He sighs at that, looks around, and wonders where exactly this Hangar 72 is.

He walks towards the 5001 building, which rises two stories up at the corner of the block, and looks at the signs on it. The window at the bottom level, which offers passersby a clear sight of a darkened office furnished with desks, chairs, and file cabinets from the 70's, announces it to be a law office. The windows on the upper level stares blankly across the street, rusted, indistinguishable, and dead.

"How am I supposed to get there?" Leo mutters to himself, frowning up the faded brick building with the blank business card in hand.

Realizing that the answer won't suddenly appear out of thin air, he starts to make his way back to the car. He's in the middle of mentally rearranging his plans for the day when he notices an alley in between 5001 and 5005.

Like the building to its right, there's nothing extraordinary about it. There's a fire escape leading to the upper floor of 5001 and some exhausts on the side of 5005, which is probably where the kitchen leads. The garbage cans leaning against 5005 and standing a few feet away from each other do look unusually large, though.

 _What are they trying to dump in these, Porter Potties?_ he wonders as his feet draws him to those.

A part of him tells him that he's wasting time trying to investigate trash cans (pun not intended), but a part of him also tells him that he should take pictures because Adam will find it fascinating.

The latter easily winning him over, he distractedly takes out his phone. However, before snapping the pictures, he decides to read the stickers attached to the graffiti-riddled garbage cans.

 _RASH CONTAINER FOR 5005 BUILDING USE ONLY,_ demands the one on the left, right on the small, locked side door. He chuckles, wondering who it is that painted over the _T_ as he takes a picture of it.

He holds his phone towards the one on the right, pulling it closer to him so he can get a wider view. _TRASH CONTAINER FOR 1 BUILDING USE ONLY,_ reads the sticker displayed on his screen.

Leo puts down the phone, features pulled in a gentle frown. At first glance, it's easy to mistake that the _500_ from _5001_ has been painted into non-existence like the _T_ has been on the other. However, upon closer inspection, he sees that nothing in it has been erased. It's perfectly clean, and the trash can as a whole is a lot less defaced than the one on its right.

The trash can really is for the 1 Boarhed District Building.

Leo looks around and tries to see if there are any more things he missed. There is nothing on the walls except the exhausts, and the writings on the garbage cans are random and all out of context.

It is then that something strikes him. The exhausts on 5005. When he stepped inside the pub, the kitchen is towards the back of the restaurant, on his left. To his right were tables.

At the top of the building are exhausts. So why are there three on that wall?

More curious than ever, he looks around him for any other clues. There's nothing noteworthy at either end of the alley, so he removes them from the list. He looks up. He notices a lone security camera on the 5001 building, but the angle it's focused to feels off.

He turns to the writings next, positive that he'll find what he needs there.

Typical things are there: a spray-painted word, which is _Upside_ in this case; a few tiny artworks here and there; some declarations written in black markers, ranging from romantic to downright explicit.

One, though, catches his eyes quickly: _Special Special._ It's written almost at the foot of the right trash can, down where nobody would even bother to look. Underneath those two words, inside parentheses and written in much smaller letters, are _It's off the wall._

 _Push Me,_ instructs the writing on the wall, on a brick that's mostly hidden by the 1 Building trash can.

Though uncertain, Leo does what it says.

A sizeable piece of concrete right in the middle of the two trash cans sinks to the ground. It divides into two, half sinking much lower than the other, revealing a staircase leading to someplace underground.

Leo looks at the opening then up at the security camera then realizes that it's focused on it. "Okay," he mutters to himself, "this is freaky." He peers into the hole, wondering how good of an idea it is to go down where it's dark and where some creature is probably waiting for some naive human to come down and be its snack.

After taking a deep breath, he pockets his phone then clasps at the strap of his messenger bag. His internal alarm is yelling at him and citing at least four good reasons why he shouldn't go through with this, but the adventurer in him only pulls him forward.

It doesn't build his confidence any that the deeper he goes, the darker it gets. It takes everything in him not to scream his lungs out when the first two steps shoots back up and results into a sound alike to a wrecking ball suddenly smashing against a pavement. _I'm gonna die down here,_ he concludes as he holds his hand against his chest to steady his booming heart. _I've just descended to my own grave, and no one will ever find me._

Left with no other way to go, he continues on.


	5. Hangar 72

Chapter Five

 _ **Hangar 72**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

He feels a little better when he sees some light after coming down the second flight of stairs. He follows it, his grip on the strap of his messenger bag loosening a little as he keeps going.

The sight of a lounge welcomes him after going through the small tunnel that the staircase led to. Despite being subterranean, the place is well lit compared to McClaren's. Given, the lighting is mostly white fluorescent, giving it a bit of a dank basement look, but it's not so bad. Even the slight chill is justifiable.

Sensing his presence, the lone patron hunching over his drink at the bar slightly turns his head towards his direction.

Leo draws back a little.

"There you are," a stocky, balding man in his late 50's greets Leo as he walks into the room from the other side. He smiles brightly after taking his station at the bar. "I thought you would've gotten lost or something."

"You...you were expecting me?" Leo asks, puzzled.

He shrugs. "If I wasn't, you wouldn't've been able to get in."

Leo nods absently, still not sure what he's just walked into.

The man grins at him, amused at the wide-eyed manner he's taking the place in. "Vanessa's coming. She just had to check something real quick." He gestures to one of the round tables closest to the bar. "Why don't you sit down while you wait? I can get you something to drink if you want."

"No, thanks," Leo says, sitting down anyways despite feeling unsettled. After getting a good look at the warm and friendly host, he says, "You must be the owner."

"And you would be right," he says. "You can call me Chuck."

"Chuck."

"Yeah. Not the most exciting of all names, but..."

Leo smiles, his trust won over. "It's all cool."

"And you're Leo Dooley, aren't you?"

Leo frowns. "Vanessa told you?"

"Nah. I have my own ways," Chuck says, grinning as he collects the bottles behind the counter.

Leo looks around once again. He takes in more of the smaller details, like the highway sign on the bar wall that says 72 and the empty booths sitting against the opposite wall. Besides the clinking of the bottles and the sound of soft mumbling somewhere in the other room, it's quiet in there. "This is nice," he comments.

"Thanks."

"Hey! You came!"

Seeing Vanessa causes Leo to finally breathe and relax. They're still technically strangers, but at least she's a familiar face. _One that's unusually upbeat._ "I didn't know you'd be this excited to see me," he comments.

She smirks, rolls her eyes. "It's good to see you, but that's not the reason why I'm happy," she says, sitting on the chair opposite him. She grins at Chuck. "Fourth."

Chuck nods, impressed. "Nice."

"And, of course, first."

That shocks him. "Really."

Vanessa nods. Then, to the man at the bar, "Seventh."

Leo's sure he heard a scoff from the bar man. "Are we talking about a ball game?" he asks Vanessa.

"No, I'm talking about something else." Vanessa sits up, facing him fully now. "So, did you come here today because you want to know or because you want to just hang out?"

"Just to hang out," Leo says, taking out the science fiction novel from his messenger bag. "My house is a little too hectic right now, and I don't want to be there."

Vanessa watches his movements closely. "You didn't tell anyone about this place, right?"

Leo shakes his head, occupied with putting his belongings down on the empty chair beside him.

Vanessa smirks, fascinated with him. "You've met Chuck, right?"

"Yeah. He owns this place."

"Right. Don't you just think he's the coolest?"

"Oh come on, Vanessa..." Chuck says, grinning in embarassment as he slings a rag over his shoulder then walks away.

Vanessa next nods sideways to the man at the bar, asking if he's met him.

Leo shakes his head. No. He hasn't.

Vanessa leans forward. "Can you guess what his ability is?" she asks quietly.

Leo gives the guy a second look. He can't tell much from where he sits; his back is on him. But, he does remember a few things from earlier. His outfit doesn't indicate he's friendly. Like Vanessa, he's wearing all black: black jeans, black turtleneck, and a black fedora to boot. Despite being perched on a barstool, his feet are almost touching the floor, which means he must be super tall.

From the little bit that he saw when he acknowledged his presence earlier, he's got smooth, unbothered features alike to those Korean boy groups Bree constantly fawns over. Unlike them, though, he's more mature, wiser-looking.

He's got a nice posture also, as if he's not sitting there on that bar staring at his unfinished drink but, rather, posing for a photo shoot.

It's almost like he's a foil to Brannon. Whereas the time traveler is wordy, pretentious, and eager for his presence to be known, this guy is quiet, sleek and cool, and effortlessly sophisticated in his movements.

"He's not like some super model, is he?" Leo asks.

Vanessa laughs. "No, he isn't. But I'm sure he'd appreciate you saying that," she says. She glances at the guy again, leans closer, and says, "His name is Seo Woo. He's omnilingual."

"Omni...lingual? Like, he can understand and speak all languages?"

Vanessa nods. She crosses her arms then leans back with a pleased smile. "It may not seem that impressive, but you'd be surprised," she says. "Everyone in this place will surprise you."

"So, everyone here has abilities?"

"Of course!"

The frown on Leo's face deepens. "Does Chuck have some, too?"

"Kind of? But Chuck's retired, so he says it doesn't count."

Leo thinks about that for a moment. "So, Seo..."

"...Woo..."

"Woo is omnilingual, Chuck is retired, and you are...?"

A pleased smile pulls at Vanessa's lips. "Pheromones," she answers.

Leo's brows hitch. "Pheromones. Like what bees use."

"It's my main one. I don't use it often, but it comes in handy in some situations."

"Were you born with what you have?"

Vanessa looks down, as if unable to sustain his gaze. "You can say that," she tells him. After a moment, she adds, "Davenport Industries isn't the only one who thought of genetically modified humans, but whereas your step-uncle has, accidentally, churned out bionic superheroes like your siblings, Farren Tech only managed to produce freaks like me."

 _That's why she's running,_ Leo thinks as he gazes sympathetically at her.

He's heard about Farren Tech, how jealous and competitive Martin Farren have been of and with his stepfather and Davenport Industries since the beginning. He can't even imagine how life would be like under an overbearing guy like that. "If it makes you feel any better, I heard that Martin Farren recently gave a passionate lecture at UCLA without realizing his zipper is down the whole time," he tells her. "Someone sent the video to my stepdad. I can guarantee you that it was embarrassing."

Vanessa grins. "Yeah. That does make me feel better," she says. She gazes at him for a moment, taking her time to appreciate whatever it is she sees in his eyes. Then, she stands up, "You want to come meet the others?"

"Uh, yeah." Leo awkwardly stands up. "Yeah, sure."

"I think it's gonna be helpful to know that it's always just the six of us here—well, _seven_ now that you're here," Vanessa says as she leads him through an archway. "Chuck doesn't trust just anyone, as you can probably tell from how you can get here. This has been our hangout for many years. With the exception of Nisha, who came about four years ago, you're the only new person to step foot here after a long while."

Leo's first observation when they reach the adjoining room is that it's so magenta in there. The sultry, radioactive color probably reigns because of the neon lights of that hue juxtaposed at ideal spots on the walls. It also stands out because it's much darker there.

On the whole, though, everything still looks the same. It's just more lounge-y now rather than shady underground pool hall.

"Why is it underground?" Leo asks.

"Chuck doesn't want just any people to come."

"No, I get that. What I mean is, why can't he be super restrictive above ground?" Leo looks around the nearly empty space. "He's nice, and the place is nice. Doesn't he want customers?"

"He didn't build this for profit," Vanessa says, smiling. "Remember what I told you about our pack?"

"Yeah?"

"This is our den."

Leo's head tilts in appreciation. _I can get behind that idea._ "Any particular reason why it's called Hangar 72?"

"You're going to have to ask Chuck about that," Vanessa says. Stopping tables away from the only occupied booth, she glances at the woman sitting there, her concentration solely on the chessboard in front of her. "How do you feel about people with mental disabilities?"

Leo blinks, surprised. "Uh...I think I should help when I can," he says. "Although, to be honest, I'm pretty awkward around them. I think it's just because I don't know what to do."

Vanessa nods pensively. "Think you can follow my lead?"

Leo nods, willing. "Yeah."

"Okay." Vanessa gestures to the woman with a tilt of the head then introduces, "Her name is Amai. She's 46, and she has autism. She doesn't like it when someone touches her chessboard. That's hers, and it's absolutely off-limits, so no touching."

"All right. No touchy. Got it."

Vanessa adds affectionately, "She doesn't engage in much conversation but know that she's very friendly. I know because looks out for me and Nisha."

"Is this Nisha girl here?" Leo asks. "You've been mentioning her, but," he looks around, "I don't see any other girl here besides you and Amai."

"Nisha's working on something today, and she won't come until this afternoon."

"Oh."

"If you stay long enough, you might catch her."

"I don't know about that. I'm already pushing it for leaving the house without telling my mom where I'm going," Leo says. "But anyways, so, Nisha's around our age too?"

"No, only _you_ and _I_ are teenagers here," Vanessa corrects. "Nisha is 27."

"Ah."

"You'll meet her soon enough," Vanessa assures.

"Okay," Leo says. "Well, can I ask one more thing before we talk to Amai?"

"Fuego."

"What are her abilities?"

Vanessa smiles, the expression proud. "She's a probability analyst," she reveals. "She's brilliant with numbers and can process hundreds of information in just a short amount of time. People might think it's just Savant Syndrome, but hers is different than that. It's almost scary sometimes. That's why she's our tactician."

"Okay."

Vanessa turns around. "Hey, Amai," she brightly greets the woman brooding over the chessboard. "How's the game going?"

Amai only continues to stare at the board, concentration unbroken.

Vanessa's smile only grows. Leaning patiently on the booth, she eyes the pieces left on the board.

Leo does the same. Though he's not as skilled in the game as his older brother is, he can tell that it's a tight match between Amai and her opponent. However, the longer he analyzes the pieces and the moves made, the more it dawns on him that Amai's equally brilliant challenger is herself.

"By the way, this is Leo. He's the friend I said I invited to hang out with us," Vanessa continues. She looks at him encouragingly.

"Oh, uh, yes. Hi. I'm Leo," says Leo. He wants to kick himself afterward for sounding so awkward. What if Amai takes that as insulting?

However, Vanessa just coolly adds, "He's nice and really funny. I think he can keep this place a secret. Don't you?"

Amai doesn't answer, only moves a rook to eliminate a knight. Still, her eyes shift slightly at that information. A moment later, she inquires softly and carefully, "Did a friend smile at you this morning?"

Leo, unsure who it was that had been spoken to, only looks at Vanessa. The girl confirms with a smirk that it was him. "Uh," Leo fumbles, thinking about it. "He was laughing while telling me something, so I guess it's a yes?"

"You aren't sure," Amai mumbles. She moves a black bishop next to a white pawn. "He didn't smile at you."

Once again, Leo looks at Vanessa. Amai's expression hasn't changed, and it makes him anxious that he's said something wrong.

"He will keep it a secret," Amai answers, pragmatic and none at all defensive. She then adds, "He's loyal to his friends, even if they're not loyal to him."

Leo doesn't know how to take that. It's one thing to _feel_ that way, but to hear it come out from someone else's mouth makes it more awkward and embarrassing.

"I don't think he'll bring us trouble either," Vanessa says while scanning Leo, "but Seo Woo thinks he's a high risk. What do you think, Amai? Is Seo Woo right, or am I right this time?"

For another stretch of time, Amai doesn't say anything. But then, she lifts her eyes up from the board with the intent of seeing the answer from him.

Her calculating eyes soften at the sight of him. Leo also sees fear in them when she quickly turns her eyes back down at the board. From the way Vanessa glances back and forth between Amai then him then Amai again, Leo can tell something about him being there is wrong.

"Oh, Amai. I'm sorry," Vanessa says. "I didn't even... I'm really sorry I didn't—"

"He has to stay here," Amai mutters, a nervous tremor going through her fingers. She rocks back and forth, her eyes unfocused. "It's safe here. It's safe here."

Out of what's now a habit, Leo looks at Vanessa to see what he can do. But before he can even think about asking, something small and sharp punctures him on the neck. "Ow!"

"I got it! This is enough! This is enough!"

Leo turns around, a hand now secured protectively at the sore spot. His features wrinkled in shock and rage, he glares at the wiry-haired madman in a white lab coat standing behind him staring obsessively and excitedly at a hypodermic needle.

Seeing his expression, the older man suddenly shields the needle and scowls at him. "Are you crazy?"

Leo gapes. "I was gonna ask you the same thing!" he retorts.

Vanessa sighs. "Doc, we talked about this. You _promised_ me you won't do it."

"I am a man of science. My life belongs to science," the madman mutters to himself as he scuttles away, off to the other room and towards a place Leo can only guess as his lab. "I am a man of science. My life belongs to science..."

"Okay, who is that crazy version of Doc Brown?" Leo asks Vanessa.

"The Doctor. We don't really know his name," Vanessa admits. "I'm sorry. He heard me telling Chuck and Seo Woo about you, and I asked him not to turn you into his newest experiment. That was my fault for thinking he actually meant what he said."

"What exactly did you tell them that made him assault me and call me crazy?" Leo asks, checking his hand to see if he's bleeding.

"I told them what you can do. Or, exactly, what you don't know you can do."

There's only a smudge of red on his palm, so that at least allays his annoyance a little. "You know what's sad? I'm not even totally shocked about what he did," Leo says forgivingly. "At least he didn't put me inside a human oven to bake."

Vanessa's brows shoot up in interest. "Someone did that to you?"

"Yeah. Krane. He was trying to get my stepdad to bring my stepsiblings out so he can end them. He pressured him by threatening to cook my mother and me," Leo recounts. "You probably know of him. Victor Krane? He threatened to put the whole world under mind control, like, twice."

Vanessa grins. "Oh, yes. Him," she says. "We were laughing at him. He was amusing."

We? Suddenly, Leo wants to know who this collective 'we' is. Something in his gut is telling him that it's not just the people in that place, but a bigger, more intimidating 'we.'

"Hey, kid," Chuck calls to Leo after popping his head in the room. "I'm about to work on lunch, and I forgot to ask you what you want to eat." He smiles. "I make a mean reuben sandwich."

Leo looks at Vanessa, but she only smirks at him. "How – how much is it?" he asks the kind owner.

"As long as you finish the whole thing, it will cost you none," Chuck answers. "I hate it when I work on something and somebody just wastes it, so..."

Leo, though still unsure, nods. "Reuben sounds good."

Chuck grins. "Excellent. Fries?"

"Yes, please."

"What's your poison?"

"I...can't drink yet. I'm just 19."

"Carbonated drinks aren't good for people either. But, if you're an antidote kind of guy, I have water, or I can make you my classic honey ginger iced tea."

"Iced tea sounds great."

"Okay. And you, Vanessa?"

"Reuben fries, a boatful, please." Vanessa shoots him a meaningful smirk. "I also want the drink that changes the world."

Chuck laughs. "Okay. Reuben fries and iced tea for you, then."

After Chuck disappears into the other room, Leo asks, "Is the iced tea really that good?"

Vanessa chuckles, and something in the way her eyes darken tells Leo he's missing something important. "It is," she says. She whips around, and the sight of something sinister vanishes like a random afterthought. "What do you want to do? Do you want to keep reading or do your homework? We can play cards if you want."

Leo thinks about it though still bewildered by her actions. "What do you want to play?" he asks.

"Hm. Spades?"

Leo shrugs.

At that, Vanessa leads him out of the dark side back to the light.


	6. Dream Girl

Chapter Six

 ** _Dream Girl_**

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

The first ever kidnapping attempt happened, and Leo doesn't catch it. It's not that he was hoping to be there and have the front seat as someone tried to take away his brother, no. It's just that when he came home from the Hangar, the house was a mess, a nervous energy was permeating through the whole house, and from the looks he had gotten when he asked what happened, it seemed to have been the general consensus at the time that they blamed him for the damages and almosts of the incident.

It was as if they believed that they would have had better chances if he had stayed behind to help, if he didn't skip town for the morning to go off to wherever it was that he went to.

Why they would feel that, he doesn't know. He's not a superhero like them. What did they want him to do, stand there and look busy?

The tension eventually blows over toward the late afternoon. As the shards and debris cleared up, the better everyone's disposition became. Chase, though a little shaken up, also told them he's okay. Smiles then jokes emerge in time, and by sunset, all is relatively back to normal.

Leo absently moves his legs in a circular motion in the warm water as he sits by the pool. His siblings, Tar Hair, and the rest of the Elite Force have engaged in a tactical discussion about what they would do next, and he took that as his exit cue. He took his sketch book with him to work on X-043 more, and he's been out there for an hour and a half.

The sound of the door sliding open only half registers to him. He has barely looked up when he heard Skylar saying, "Oh. You're out here."

"Yeah, I'm out here," Leo says, smiling.

Skylar only blinks, words she's trying to gather stuck in her mouth.

"Trying to get some air?" Leo helps her.

"Yeah. Yeah," Skylar agrees, chuckling in relief. She gestures to the house and says, "It's a little tense in there again."

"Superhero council's in a disagreement?"

"To say the least."

Leo nods. He tilts his head towards the poolside. "Mi casa, su casa, as I'm sure Chase and Bree have told you," he says, resuming his sketching. "Feel free to pick a spot."

There's only silence for a moment. He wonders if she's hesitating or have left without saying anything, but then he hears the soft patter of her bare feet across the grass.

Skylar sits a distance beside him then copies him by putting her feet in the pool. "What are you working on?" she asks, leaning towards him a little.

"Nothing big. At least not yet," Leo says.

"Ah. I thought it was homework."

Leo grins. "No, thankfully not. I just wanted to take these three days off from doing something for school. You know, just relax."

Skylar smiles sadly, jealously. "It must be nice."

"I'm gonna pay for it later."

Skylar ponders over her next question for a long moment. Once she's decided, she asks, "Do you like it?"

"Like what?"

"Not being a superhero anymore? Is it better?"

Leo stops sketching. His eyes narrow as he thinks. Then, the mechanical pencil moves again. "There are rare times when I do miss it. I mean, I still like the idea of being able to help others," he explains. "But, the thing is, it's been almost three years since I 'hung up my cape.' If it had really been for me, if I was convinced that it's really what I'm meant to do with my life, I would've gone back a long time ago. But it only got easier in time." He chuckles. "I guess that tells you a lot."

He doesn't see it, but Skylar smiles. She gazes up the faint blue sky and gets lost in the thought that somewhere out there is her home planet. She chuckles when something occurs to her. "I guess that's why you never came to Centium City to see Bree and Chase," she comments. "Everyone in the family came except for you."

Leo continues sketching despite her words picking at an old wound. No, it's not because he didn't want to be dragged back into the things he's left behind, at least not mainly. He stayed away because during that time, he was beginning to realize the things he knows now. He was mad at his stepfather then for never choosing him and mad at his older siblings for never letting him be better than them in at least one thing.

In short, he was in an angsty teenager mode, and it wouldn't have been helpful to add fuel to that fire by going to the place he wished he had been picked to go.

But then he grew out of that mentality, and despite the expectation that that would result into him wanting to visit his stepfather and step-uncle's source of pride, the interest just...dwindled. He told himself that he would go, but he put it off so many times that he had to just admit that he had no desire to come.

Not because of ill feelings, but because he had thought about the place for so long that it just lost its luster.

"Adam told me it's just like Mission Creek anyways," he tells Skylar then leaves it at that.

A moment later, Skylar comments, "Mr. Davenport tells me you like tinkering with machines. Is that what it is? You're gonna build one?"

Leo grins. "Hopefully. In the future."

Skylar nods. "You probably think I'm being too nosy."

"Oh, no. Not at all. Although, you do remind me of Liv Henry from sophomore year. She used to sit by me and cheat off of me when we have tests."

Skylar grins. "Are you saying I'm trying to steal your idea from you?"

"Sorta kinda."

Skylar laughs.

The melody of joy in her voice oddly – but somehow also naturally – makes Leo feel great. "But seriously, it'd take a while to get this right," he tells her. "I've made two prototypes of this, and they both end up getting fried."

"What is it?"

"Oh, just some sort of a power box. I just thought it would be neat to have a device that can harness and save energy that occurs in nature then use that in places where they might not get electricity, you know?"

"Huh. That sounds cool. Kind of like solar panels or windmills but a transformer."

"Exactly, though I'm hoping to contain something much more powerful."

"What's that?"

"Lightning."

Skylar ponders over it. "Is that possible?"

Leo shrugs. "I don't know, but I want to try. Like I said, the first two prototypes ended up in disaster. I'm thinking that there should be something modified in the design so it can sustain that much electricity." He frowns at the sketch in front of him. "The design probably could be changed, too."

Skylar watches him with a smile as he shuts the sketchbook. "I guess Chase isn't the only smart kid in the family."

"Girl, don't let him hear you," Leo says, smiling in appreciation nonetheless. "He's the smartest man in the world. Your fan site says that, don't you know?"

Skylar chuckles. "How'd you know about the fan site?"

"If Adam, Bree, and Chase got on the cover of multiple teen magazines, a fan site for Centium City's finest super team will just be a given," Leo says. He grins. "You know, there are many ships for the Elite Force, too."

Skylar frowns. "Ships?"

"Short for relationships. You know, romantic pairings. BrOTP for friendships. Things like that."

Skylar smiles, but there's sadness in it this time. "I'm guessing you heard that from magazines, too?"

Leo nods, apologetic he's even brought it up. "Social media is flooded with comments," he tells her.

Skylar looks down at the pool, watches the ripples the slight movement of her legs create. "Can I tell you something and expect you to never repeat it to anyone else?" she asks.

Leo smiles sadly. "In one ear, out the other," he guarantees.

Skylar pauses thoughtfully. Then, "I was the one to break it off. It just didn't feel right to me. Have you ever been in a relationship where everything looks okay but it feels like it isn't?"

"I wish I could say yes. I was in a relationship before, but the situation was kind of different."

For another stretch of time, Skylar is silent. Then she bravely continues, "I only agreed to the relationship because everyone keeps telling me it's what's meant to be, it's what's meant to be. He was so happy, but...I wasn't. It just felt forced. I liked Oliver, but I can't get myself to fall in love with him."

Leo thinks it's evil to feel a bit of joy after hearing that. He really shouldn't be happy. He's experienced a breakup, and nothing about that was happy. But then that forbidden thought comes to his mind, that maybe, just maybe, his little crush can find that unexpected turn, that maybe he'd have a chance of making her laugh and making conversations like this last for more than a few stolen minutes. He's trying not to dwell on the thought of her, but it's hard.

So, he says instead, "If you ask me, it's not such a bad idea to call it off. Coming from someone who's been kind of through it, it would have hurt him if he finds out from you later that that's how you feel."

Skylar sighs. "I just wish it's not this hard."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you can tell, but ever since I did what I did, the whole team's been distant from me. And I know why. It's because I went against grain."

Leo thinks about the best response carefully before speaking. "Well, you can't help what other people think. They will feel what they feel. But you did it out of fairness. I think that's what counts," he says.

Skylar offers him a small smile. "I wish they can see this the way you can," she says.

"This wise insight only comes to nineteen year-old students on a break, Ms. Storm. It's an exclusive perk included in the Normal People deal," Leo jokes, making Skylar laugh.

However, the joy on her face doesn't last long. She's doing her best to smile, but Leo can see too easily that it's taking some effort. "Things were simpler before," Skylar says. "When I first came to Earth, Horace was the very first person I met."

"Who's Horace?"

"Dr. Diaz. He was the head of Mighty Med."

"Oh, that's right."

"Yeah." She chuckles at a memory. "He was kind of weird, but he was nice. Alan was a little too high-strung, too, but – they and some of the staff members there were my very first memories of Earth. I only knew them for two years, but they taught me the concept of family."

"You miss them," Leo says sympathetically.

Skylar smiles sheepishly. "You're probably tired of hearing me talk about them over and over."

Leo shakes his head. "They're important to you. You should talk about them."

An appreciative glint comes onto the Calderan's eyes. "I wish I can see them again," she confesses. "I thought I'd be happy, that I'd be content once we've put away the people who killed them, but I'm not. It didn't make a difference. Horace and Alan still aren't here."

And there, in the curves of her face and the lightlessness of her eyes, Leo sees how she feels in its purest form. It goes beyond sadness. It's loneliness and desperation and insatiable grief. He can't even imagine how long she's been holding it in. "You're a strong woman, Skylar Storm, do you know that?" he tells her.

Skylar smiles at the ripples hollowly. "This isn't courage."

"Yes, it is. You've been through a lot. You've done your best even if you miss your family. You've fought up to this point. That's strength."

"Will you still think I'm strong if I tell you I'm planning on leaving Earth soon?"

Leo's heart sinks at that. "I'm sorry, leaving?"

"I want to go back to Caldera for a while," Skylar admits. "I just can't stay here on Earth. It constantly reminds me of what I couldn't do for my friends. I also feel alone."

"But, you have friends here," Leo says, thinking of the rest of her team who are probably milling about somewhere inside the house. But then her eyes give her away again. "Or maybe not," he concludes.

"I think things had been very tense these past few years because we've all experienced the loss," Skylar says. "You know it's bad when Kaz is the most stable out of us three. He's really the only one holding us together now. Oliver, he – he's going through a tougher time because of his mom and because he feels partially responsible for what happened at Mighty Med."

"He didn't do anything wrong," Leo says. "None of you did."

"I know. Kaz and I are learning to accept that. But not Oliver. I think he's holding onto it to keep him going," Skylar says. She sighs. "But it's changing him. He's just so desperate now, more impulsive than before. I think that's also one of the reasons why I ended it. He's holding onto me out of fear. He's doing the same to Kaz, but it's just different when it's more than friendship."

"You don't want fear to be the reason that you're together."

"Yeah."

Leo broods over these things. That was a lot of information in a short period of time; where even to begin? From her grief to her plans of moving out of the planet (this galaxy altogether) and from her feelings of friendlessness to how she truly felt about her ex, it's a lot to process. What makes it more complex is the battle inside him, one side urging him to tell her how he feels about it and the other pushing him to tell her what he thinks.

But then he realizes through the jumble of thoughts that who matters the most is her. How would she feel if he influences her to stay? Would she be happy, or would she forever be sad like she is now?

He doesn't think he can take that, seeing her sad, not only as someone who's still working on how he really feels about her but as a fellow being who understands how it is to feel lonely. "I think it would be okay," he tells her.

Skylar frowns, confused. "I'm sorry?"

"There are many heroes here on Earth now," Leo repeats, a small smile pulling on his lips. "It's not selfish to want to step down for a while."

Skylar's face clears, processing that. Then, she smiles, genuinely moved. "You think it'd be okay?"

"I mean, many people will miss you, but it's kind of pointless if you stay in a place you're not happy in anymore."

The relief she feels shows on her features, and Leo thinks he has found something he likes better than hearing her laugh. "Thanks for saying that," Skylar says.

Leo shrugs, a sort of You're Welcome. "Just come back when you've found your purpose again," he tells— _asks_ of—her.

"I will," Skylar promises.

Before their smiling leads them into awkwardness, Leo jokes, "I just want you to know that that counseling session was not free. I fully expect some compensation for this."

Skylar bursts out laughing.

"Oh, you think I'm kidding?" Leo adds on. "I even got a notebook here and everything."

"What can I pay you with? I have no money!"

"How can you have no money, girl? You're famous, you're a superhero in a team formed by a billionaire. That's kind of hard to believe you don't have anything."

"Well, did Mr. Davenport ever pay you when you were working with them?"

Leo has to think about that. "You know what? You're right," he says. "We need to talk to him about these pays we're not seeing."

"Skylar."

Both Leo and Skylar look behind them. There at the door to the house stands Oliver. Leo doesn't miss the way the superhero's eyes shift from him to Skylar to him, as if connecting an invisible line.

"The team wants to see you," Oliver tells her.

Skylar turns her gaze back to Leo. She smiles apologetically but also gratefully. "Maybe we can talk about it some other time," she says.

"I've still got a lot of notebooks in my room."

Skylar chuckles. Then, she gets up, water from the pool spilling from her skin to the cooler cement of the poolside, before hurrying inside the house.

Leo smiles while watching her. Even when she's gone and even when Oliver darts that deathly glare at him, the expression still doesn't fade. He's just happy to have been there for her, happy to have another conversation with someone as intricate and intelligent and marvelous as she.

He opens his sketchbook again to finish on X-043, but before he can continue he looks up at the sky. He wants to remember this day. It's definitely one for the books, especially with his small adventure with the underground hangar and now, this nice conversation with Skylar. It's been a great day, and even the deeply orange-tinged sky and the squawks of seagulls in the distance seem to agree.

Somewhere within the bushes, though, hidden from his sight, sits a small, discreet bird, watching the content teenager attentively for the second hour now.


	7. Not Human

Chapter Seven

 _ **Not Human**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

Nisha Chhabra is, to say the least, a beauty.

Leo can't help but glance at the twenty-seven year-old from time to time because, as he sits across her in their three-way game of Go Fish, he's finding it hard to believe she's real. How can someone with eyes that dark and deep, with skin so smooth and perfectly tanned, and with hair so bouncy and fragrant be real? In the most platonic way he can mean it, he thinks she's gotta be the most attractive woman he'd seen thus far in real life.

"Do you have an ace?"

"No. Go fish."

Though she's pretty, Leo's positive he's not attracted to her. However, Vanessa made it clear earlier that it's not in his best interest to change his mind about that. Apparently, there's this little thing going on between Nisha and Seo Woo, namely, they both like each other but are too shy to admit that.

Which he finds fascinating. He's not too surprised with this news: it's just a given fact now that Seo Woo is the Hangar's Mr. GQ, and Nisha, despite her humble outfit of washed out jeans and graphic tee, is modelesque in her own right. This is not what he finds hard to believe. What amazes him is the fact that in their meager, subterranean population of six, gossips like who's interested in who even exist.

"How was your weekend?" Vanessa asks Leo, her eyes on her cards.

"There was still a lot of cleaning to do," Leo answers, wondering briefly if any of what he thought of showed on his face.

"Do you have a four, Leo?" Nisha asks.

"Yeppers," Leo says, handing a card across the table. Then, to Vanessa he says, "There was nothing interesting."

"There's a rumor going around that the Elite Force from Centium City is somewhere here in California. Is that true?"

Leo frowns at her. "Where'd you hear that from?"

"Online."

 _Of course. The fansites,_ Leo thinks. "No."

Vanessa looks up. "No what?"

"No I can't answer that for you," Leo says. He grins as he shuffles the cards in his hands. "Why? Do you have a particular crush on one of the boys on the team?"

Vanessa's face scrunches. "No. They're superheroes. Superheroes are so overrated."

Leo grins. "Then, what, a supervillain?"

He doesn't see the glance Nisha darts Vanessa and the smirk that emerges on Vanessa's face. "No, they're a little fickle to handle," Vanessa tells him.

"I win," Nisha says, laying down her last book.

"How is this even humanly possible?" Leo asks her. "We've played four games, and three out of those you won. Is that your ability? Demolishing people in card games?"

Nisha chuckles. "No."

"I demand we play a board game," Leo says.

"Why are you being a sore loser?" Vanessa teases him, grinning.

"I'm not being a sore loser, okay? But I do want to win _at least_ once today," Leo says.

Nisha looks around then points at the bar. "I think Chuck has a few games under there. But..." she looks worriedly at Vanessa, "I don't know if they're the kind of games you'd want to play."

"Why?" Leo asks. "What does he have?"

"There's _Stratosphere, Superhero Guess Who?_ "

"Superhero Guess Who? sounds fun," Leo says. "I'm a bit rusty on the comic books, but I may be able to manage."

The women exchange a meaningful look. "It's not that kind of Guess Who, Leo," Vanessa tells him.

"What kind is it?"

"It's a strategy game."

Leo's brows hitch. "What, are you saying I'm not strategic?"

"No, I'm saying you know way too much to be able to play it," Vanessa informs him. She smirks. "You have to inform us of the superheroes' weaknesses as part of the game, and I think Chuck had just added your siblings and the rest of the Elite Force there."

"Oh."

To amend for that, Nisha offers, "We also have Uno Deal."

Leo's face lights up at that. "Uno Deal I can do," he says, sitting up.

"Okay, I'll get it in a bit," Nisha says, standing up. "But first, let me just use the girl's room."

"I'll come with." Vanessa smirks at Leo after she gets up. "I need a break."

Leo's brows furrow as both women walk off into the adjacent room. _Why do girls always go together when they use the restroom?_ he wonders.

He's gathering the cards together a minute later when someone places the box of Uno Deal on the table. Looking up ( _way_ up), he sees Seo Woo, his black polka dot suit as crisp and his features as expressionless as ever. He glances down at him for a second, and then he walks away.

Watching him go back to his spot on the bar (it's kind of annoying to see that even the way he walks is perfect), Leo remembers a question that popped in his head in one of the more idle moments of his day. He hesitates at first because he's never really learned what Seo Woo's usual temperament is. Yet, the realization that it's the perfect time pushes himself to walk over and take a seat.

Immediately, Leo knows he's done something the omnilingual didn't like. The gaze in the quiet man's eyes sharpens a little, as if sizing him and his intentions as he takes the barstool next to him. He doesn't move, and while it's true that he rarely ever does once he's at his favorite spot, it's tension now that has cemented him.

He scares Leo, but Leo decides to hold his stare. To break the awkwardness, he acknowledges, "Look, I, um, I know I'm in your space. I know you don't like me either, but I was just wondering if I can ask you a quick question."

Seo Woo stares at him coldly.

Leo begins to wonder how sound of an idea this is when he realizes that though distant, Seo Woo didn't say no. He smiles sheepishly. "Well, you know, this is weird to ask you this, but I was wondering if you can give me some tips?"

Seo Woo, again, says nothing. However, the look in his eyes softens. Leo will even dare say he saw a frown briefly tease on his face.

"You just dress nice and stuff," Leo admits awkwardly, unable to look at him. "I kind of want to dress nice, too. I was wondering, what can I do to look nicer?"

The frown, though gentle as it is, finally shows on Seo Woo's face. But what's more surprising is what he does next. "Why?" he asks.

Leo blinks, trying to determine whether he really finally heard the most aloof patron of the hangar speak to him. "Uh, well, I was, ah...I just wanted to," he says.

Seo Woo looks down on his forever never started, never finished shot of vodka. "Skylar Storm?"

Leo stares at him, eyes wide. "How'd you know that?" he demands.

A small smirk pulls at Seo Woo's lips.

"Are you spying on me?" Leo accuses.

Seo Woo says nothing, only hunches over his drink.

Leo's brows furrow deeper. However, the more he thinks about it, the more it comes to him that he's not as surprised as he thought he was. He and Skylar just talked about those hawk-eyed fans. Who's to say their little conversations over the weekend wasn't spotted by one of them?

Leo sighs then gets off the barstool. "Never mind," he mutters.

"It's pointless."

Leo stops midway back to the table. He turns around. "I'm sorry?"

"It's pointless," Seo Woo repeats, his back on him.

"Pointless..."

"If she likes you already, then changing would be pointless."

The frown clears from his face. "I don't know if I'm more amazed because of what you said or because this is the first time I've heard you say that many words," Leo muses aloud. He smiles at Seo Woo. "Thanks, hyungnim."

Seo Woo turns his head towards him a little at that.

Leo grins. "Ah, see? You're not the only one who can throw a wildcard on the table," he says. "I'm full of surprises, too!"

Seo Woo scoffs and shakes his head.

Leo decides to read that as a chuckle.

"You two are not getting ready to get into a fight, are you?" Vanessa asks as she and Nisha comes back.

"Nah. We're both too concerned about our money makers to get into a fight," Leo says, sitting down.

"Oh! You got the game for us already," Nisha says, grinning from the box to him. "Thanks!"

"Well, actually..." Leo looks at Seo Woo, and once again he finds him unnaturally rigid in his posture. _Right. Too shy to let each other know that they care about one another._ "You know, you're welcome," Leo tells Nisha.

 _You didn't get that for us, did you?_ Vanessa communicates through a look.

 _Nope._

Vanessa slightly tilts her head towards the bar.

He smirks. _You know good and well he did it._

Vanessa grins. She glances at the twenty-seven year old, who's preoccupied with unpacking the game pieces, and wonders when the two will ever get past this unspoken thing between them.

"By the way," Leo says, "where's Amai? I haven't seen her since I got here."

"She's with Chuck," Nisha answers, distributing the cards. "He needed to go buy more food, so he asked Amai to come with him."

"I think he did it, too, because it's pretty outside," Vanessa adds. "Amai can get into her own head way too much. Going to the store when it's sunny and cool would help her recalibrate."

Leo nods. He picks up his cards once Nisha finishes. "What about the doctor guy? Is he out assaulting other people today?"

"No, he's upstairs in his lab."

"There's an upstairs to this spot?"

"Yeah. It would be that 5501 building, the second floor."

"Huh," Leo says. "I thought that was empty."

"That's the point. It should look empty," Vanessa says, rearranging her cards.

"Why?" He smirks as he asks, "Is he looking for an abandoned house look?"

"Uh-huh," Vanessa says, unwavering.

Leo frowns. She must've not really meant that. "So he lives up there, then?"

"Pretty much." Vanessa's brows furrow. "Actually, we haven't seen him in days. The last time you're here, that was the last time we've seen him."

Leo stares at her, eyes wide.

Vanessa stares back at him. "What?"

"Have you _checked_ on him?"

"No. Why would I do that?"

"Oh, I don't know, something bad could've happened to him? He could be lying up there, hurt. Or worse, dead. Don't get it twisted, I don't like the guy, but that's still messed up that no one's even bothered to see how things are going for him up there."

Vanessa—and also Nisha—grins. "He doesn't die that easily. Plus, this isn't new. Whenever he has something interesting to work on, he'll vanish a while," she assures him. She then smirks when another thought occurs to her. "I didn't know you care about the Doctor so much."

"I don't," Leo says. "I just thought someone would've known what's up with him."

"Well, as soon as we hear from him, I'll text you," Vanessa tells him as she takes her turn.

"Text me? How can you text me when you don't even have my number?"

Vanessa takes out her phone from her jacket pocket. She unlocks it, opens the contacts, and then slides it over to him.

Leo sighs. "Fine," he says, taking out his phone, too. He takes hers after handing over his. "Do you want to put your phone number in, too, Nisha?" he asks when he finds her watching Vanessa keenly.

Nisha's face lights up. "Sure!"

"Hyungnim?" Leo asks Seo Woo.

"His number's for business purposes only," Vanessa tells Leo.

"Okay." _I'm just making it clear here that I'm not putting moves on his crush or anything._

"Do you have the number for this place saved on your phone?" Nisha asks Leo.

"No." Leo frowns thoughtfully. "I didn't see it on the card..."

"Hm. I guess it really won't have it there," Nisha says.

"If you want, I can give your number to Chuck," Vanessa says. "That way, if something comes up or you just want to stop by for a sandwich and none of us are here, you can just contact him directly."

Leo shrugs. "Yeah. Sure."

"Once you have Chuck's number, though, you have to make sure that no one else sees it," Nisha advises. "Chuck's a very private person, and if he does text or call you, that means he trusts you."

"Yeah, it's not good to break Chuck's trust," Vanessa adds. "We've had others who double-crossed him before. Who you see here are the people smart enough not to do that."

Leo nods even though something in what she said strikes him as a bit odd. Which one, he can't pinpoint. "Don't double-cross Chuck. Got it," he says.

"Where is he? Is he here?"

The three of them, even Seo Woo at the bar, have to look up at the frantic yelling. A second later, Doc emerges from the stairs, a crazier, more terrifying look in his eyes as he searches the room.

Leo smirks. "Well, would you look at that," he says as Vanessa and Nisha get up alertly from their seats. "He's alive after all."

Those words alert the scientist of his presence. His target found, Doc hurries to him until he's towering over him. "You," he tells Leo. He snickers lowly and madly. "Oh ho ho, _you._.."

Leo stares up at him, eyes wide and leaning as far away as possible. He turns his eyes towards Vanessa pleadingly.

"Doc. Personal space," Vanessa reminds the scientist.

"I'm sorry," Doc says, minding his distance. He casts a grin towards Leo afterwards that makes the nineteen year-old feel as if the gap has been uncomfortably shrunk again. "It's been a while since I've seen one."

Leo looks at Vanessa.

"Yes, you have. You've seen normal people before," Vanessa tells Doc. "Remember that bartender across the street? The one who you say smokes cigarettes every half hour? You notice him often, and he's normal."

"You said he's not normal," Doc says of Leo. "You said he's different so I checked. I am a man of science so I checked! I ran his blood sample through many tests, through many tests, because I want to see why he can resist you." His fingers knot over each other as he greedily stares at Leo. "You," he tells the boy. "I want to study you."

"One, I'm actually getting really freaked out by Dr. Jekyll," Leo tells Vanessa. Then to Doc, "and two, there's absolutely no way I'm gonna let you stab me with a hypodermic needle again."

"We can trust him, Doc," Vanessa says. "He checks out. Even Chuck—"

"Your friend is not human."

Five words, and they are all stunned.

"What?"

"I checked over and over," Doc tells Vanessa. "I am a man of science so I checked over and over. It took me days because it didn't make sense when I counted. He doesn't have 23, and the bases, the bases, even though similar, are different from ours. He can resist you because you don't affect him. I am a man of science." He turns towards Leo. "You're not human."

"You better not be telling me I'm a fish or something because man, we're gonna have some problems," Leo says, his tone combative.

"No. Not fish. Not animal. Not human either," Doc says. "I don't think you're from this planet at all."

"He said no experiments, Doc," Nisha says. Leo doesn't miss the worry in her voice and the shadow of unease on Vanessa's features. "It's not ethical for a man of science like you to lie just to get someone to agree to be your guinea pig."

"I am a man of science, not of ethics," Doc replies, annoyed. He smiles at Leo. "You're different. Don't you want to know why?"

 _You've lost your mind, that's why,_ Leo thinks, brows knitted in irritation at the scientist. He picks up his phone after it buzzes for the second time.

 _Come home now,_ his stepfather texts him. _A second attack happened, and they nearly took Naomi with them. Your mom and I want to make sure you're safe._

"I gotta go," Leo says, getting up from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Vanessa asks.

Leo slings the strap of his messenger bag across his shoulder. "Home. Something came up." He nods at Nisha then glares at Doc. "See you later," he tells Vanessa.

 _You're different. Don't you want to know why?_ Doc's words ring in the back of his mind.

Leo scoffs as he ascends from darkness to light, like he's had a few times now. _The dude's officially lost his mind,_ he dismisses before moving on to thoughts of what must've happened at home.


	8. The Most Wanted List

Chapter Eight

 _ **The Most Wanted List**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

Leo sweeps the floor with a sigh. It's been about two and a half hours since the second attack, and doing this, ushering the shards of glass that his stepfather just had installed and paid for three days ago into the wearier-looking dustpan, a conclusion forms in his head.

He's pretty sure now that this will be his role in this new adventure of theirs: the random chimney sweep. Or, more specifically, the character that just pops in when minor actions like cleaning need to be done. It bums him a bit thinking that, but only because he had to leave what could've been a riveting game of Uno Deal for something so irrelevant and relatively stagnant.

Well, it would be riveting if Doc wasn't there. That whole 'Not human' thing has really thrown off his day.

He doesn't know why it bothers him so much. He knows he's human; his birth certificate says so. Plus, if there was something really special in him, wouldn't it have manifested when he turned 16? The characters on the dystopian science fiction novels he's read and watched always become the special one when they turn 16. In some cases, it was when they turn 18.

He's a few years past, and besides Vanessa's claim that he can resist her ability nothing else is special about him.

He thinks briefly that it must be some cruel hope clinging onto him. All of this Protect the Person Who Will Change the Future stuff has influenced him to be vulnerable again to the idea of being something he's not. That's actually more depressing. He's turning 20 soon, the same era Adam, Bree, and Chase are in now, and he's still holding onto these childish fantasies.

 _Gotta get it together, man,_ he tells himself as he empties the contents of the dustpan into the large, metallic bin situated in the middle of the room.

He just has to stick with the plan he has for himself: graduate in about three years, get to work on those inventions of his, and enjoy being young before he reaches 30 – which, at this point, he's starting to think is not even old yet. He's thought about marriage and a family before, and he's pretty set on maybe getting the former started by at least 27.

Instinctively, he steals a gaze at Skylar, who had passed him to dump the contents of her own dustpan into the main bin.

He knows it's not likely to happen, him and her. She's a bright, magenta star in a night sky filled with legends, one who's strong and capable and stands out and whose shampoo smells of vanilla and honey. Meanwhile, he's, at the very most, a chimney sweep in a sci-fi version of _Les Miserable,_ emphasis on the _miserable_.

But it's a nice idea, him marrying a superhero. It's kind of like Jimmy Olsen and Supergirl. Not the TV version, but the comics version.

What an adventure that would be. He could be there to support her while she shines in her work of saving others, and she could be there to support him in his endeavors of helping people through his inventions. They could be happy.

"Leo? Leo, did I lose you?"

Skylar snaps her fingers, and Leo snaps out from his thoughts. He only realizes it then that he's been staring at her all this time which must have looked pretty funny because Skylar is grinning at him. "I'm sorry, what?" Leo attempts at recovery.

Skylar laughs. "I was making a comment about what a mess this is, and you spaced out," she says.

Leo desperately pleads with his brain not to cue his face to blush. What will be more embarrassing than getting caught by his crush staring is getting caught by his crush staring and seeing from his face that he's embarrassed. "I'm sorry, just – Just thinking some things," he says.

Her expression wanes down to a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry. I'm being insensitive," she says. "They almost got away with your little sister and Chase, and all I'm doing is complain. You're probably still shaken up."

"Oh, I mean, no. I don't care," Leo hastily says. Then, recognizing the flaw in that, he amends, "No, I mean, I don't mind if you complain. There's really no need to apologize. This will probably sound stupid, but I'm just so used to things like this happening that it doesn't bother me much anymore. I'm desensitized, which doesn't make it better. I'm glad that everyone's fine, though." He smiles at her. "Chase and Naomi were in good hands."

Her eyes twinkle at that compliment. She smiles at him then goes back to cleaning the study room with his stepfather.

Leo goes back to work, his mood a whole lot better than earlier.

"No, I'm telling you, Chase – this list is legit."

Leo turns around at the sound of Kaz's voice. He finds the pyrokinetic congregating with Bree, Chase, and Oliver by the kitchen, their brooms leaning on the walls, their backs turned on him, and their focus directed to a tablet Kaz holds. Based on the mandatory hand-on-hips that Bree is sporting as well as Chase's forward lean, he understands the conversation to be rather weighty.

"It just looks a little, I don't know..." Chase says as Leo stands behind them. He scratches his head. "I just don't understand why Bree and I never knew about this list until now."

"That's because the Superhero Network has to acknowledge you first before you get permission to view information like this," Kaz says.

"It's true," Oliver vouches. "It's not open to just anybody. It's pretty top secret because of how much information it contains."

"So does that mean that they _finally_ acknowledge me and Chase?" Bree asks, her tone slightly rising. "We're superheroes, too, you know. We've been at this for six years now."

"Why are you getting mad at me? I don't decide who gets the information and who doesn't," Kaz tells her. "We're actually not supposed to share this with you, but because we're _concerned_ teammates and friends, we're telling you about it."

Chase broods over it a moment. "Do you think this can really help us map our next step?" he asks.

"Definitely," Oliver says. He takes the tablet from Kaz. "Look, I know you don't want to admit it, Chase, but it's getting tougher now. Just the five of us plus Brannon can't handle this on our own. We still haven't found out why the villains are attacking all of a sudden. On top of that, it's getting dangerous. We're going to need to ask for help from the top-ranking heroes."

Chase sighs. "It's not even that big a deal."

"Not that big a deal?" Kaz exclaims. "You and your little sister almost got carried off into who knows where by that evil duo! And this is the second time you almost got kidnapped! Which of those doesn't sound like a big deal to you?"

"We're panicking for no reason," says Chase.

"Chase, no," Bree says, her arms now crossed. "Kaz and Oliver are right. This can only go on for so long until someone gets seriously hurt. What if next time they hurt Mr. Davenport, or Tasha, or Douglas, or Daniel? They know that the best way to hit us is to hurt the ones we love."

 _I guess these jerks don't love me,_ Leo thinks, annoyed and unimpressed, as he shoots his older sister a withering look.

Bree shakes her head. "We can't risk that anymore," she tells Chase.

Chase mulls over it hesitatingly for a minute. Another sigh, this one sharper and heavier, tells them that he acquiesces. "How is this list supposed to help us anyway?" he asks the two former doctors.

"It'll help us figure out who we can ask for help," Kaz answers. He points to the screen as Oliver shows it to Bree and Chase.

From where Leo stands, he can only get a glimpse of something cherry red.

"We've been talking about it, and I think the best one we can go with is Titan Red," Kaz says, his voice lower, more urgent, and a bit more secretive. "He's the third best of the ones still alive in the Top Superheroes list. He's a powerful guy. He's smart, very influential. He's also very knowledgeable of the superhero world and the supervillains."

"We also happen to have his contact saved so it'd be easier to ask him for help compared to the others," Oliver adds.

"Where's the first and second?" Bree asks.

"Last we heard, they're in different planets. They're battling off their newest villains, I think," Oliver says.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, but this is still coming across as a little shallow to me," Chase says. "What's the point of ranking heroes? And haven't we been through this already? I just don't get why we have to put a number on what a person does for others."

Bree's smirk can be heard from her voice. "He's just mad because he didn't make the Top Ten," she tells their teammates.

Kaz takes the tablet from Oliver. "Ooh, let's see where we rank," he says, scrolling up the list. "Whoever ranks highest gets to be this year's team leader."

Leo tries to sneak a peek, but he can barely see anything through the gap. He draws closer, craning his neck through their shoulders, but the view is no better.

Kaz must've seen one of the members because he holds the list put with a finger. He looks at the other three. "Number seventeen."

Chase, Bree, and Oliver exchange glances. "I don't think she'll want to lead the team anyways," Bree nonchalantly dismisses, cuing Kaz to continue scrolling.

 _Skylar,_ Leo thinks. They can't be talking about any other 'she' than her.

"Oh. Ha! There you go." Kaz points to the screen then grins at Chase. "Number sixty-eight. Not bad, man."

"I'm really that far down the line?" Chase asks, gaping at his own superhero profile in disbelief. "I have a long list of bionics! Why sixty-eight?"

"Well, according to the notes, you've only ever been exposed to three villains – one low-level threat, one mid-level, and one high-level. Even with the high-level you had the assistance of four others, one of which is Number Seventeen."

"What about me?" Bree asks.

"Let's see..." Kaz types in something at the search bar. The result comes out. "Nope. Not in the Top 100," Kaz says. "I don't think Adam's in here either."

"I don't even think Kaz and I made it."

"You're right, Chase – this list is rigged," Bree tells Chase.

Chase only smirks at her; the table has turned.

"The Most Wanted List can help us, too," Oliver says. "It'll help us prepare for who may be coming next."

"According to _that_ list, the tandem that just attacked us ranks..." Kaz scrolls down then stops. "Thirty-one. Ooh, buddy. Yep." He shakes his head. "That rank really showed."

"They _almost_ hurt all of us, and they're just number thirty-one?" Bree asks.

"Yeah. I mean, I guess it's got to do with experience, too. But thirty-one is not something to frown upon."

"So I'm assuming that the higher up we go, the harder it will be to fight them," Chase says.

"Which is why we need more help," Oliver says. "If word spreads that you'll be the key to who wins the future, Chase, we'll see more and more people from this list come up and try to attack you and everyone else. So far, the first two just want to take you, but it's not gonna be the case for everyone. Some of these villains can be very jealous, and if they find out that you might just be more powerful than they are—"

"They're going to try to kill me."

"Exactly," Oliver replies.

Chase broods over that, crossing his arms. "So, we just need to contact that one Titan Red guy?" he asks.

"We should probably try to contact others, but yeah," Kaz nods, "Titan Red is a good start. He can help us map our plan of action."

"You know, I'm kind of curious," Bree says, tilting her head, "where does Rodyssius' kids rank?"

"I think I saw them at thirteen... Yup. There," Kaz turns the screen towards her. "They're at thirteen. They'd probably be lower in the list if there weren't thirteen—well, fourteen—of them."

"What about Douglas?" Bree asks, her voice lilting in excitement as she takes the tablet.

"I doubt he's there," Kaz says while she searches. "He doesn't have abilities, and he kind of turned good."

"So that will take them off the list? If they turned good?" Chase asks.

"Not necessarily. Some of the ones here have turned good, too. Others have been dead or have been presumed dead for so many years, and they haven't been taken off the list."

"Krane's at forty-three. Interesting," Bree says.

"Like we said, he's mid-level," Oliver says.

"Who are these ones on top?" Chase asks, leaning onto Bree as he looks through the list.

"People we probably don't want to end up having to deal with," Oliver says. He exchanges a glance with Kaz. "This list helps other superheroes, too, in knowing what to do if they happen to come across these villains. One to thirty-five is considered high-level. It's best to work with a team when dealing with them."

"Ah."

"But it's not that easy," Kaz adds. "People in numbers one to fifteen are considered to be in the No Fight List."

"No Fight List?" Bree asks.

Oliver nods. "Especially for rookies like us," he says. "When Kaz and I first became heroes, Tecton told us that we should never, _ever_ pick a fight with the men and women on this list. We're risking our lives if we do that. We should only engage if we absolutely, positively have to."

"Huh," Chase says. "They're that serious?"

Oliver and Kaz nod.

"So I guess The Annihilator ranks in that list, huh?"

The four whip around at Leo's comment. "Leo!" Kaz chuckles uneasily. "How long have you been standing there?"

Leo shrugs, making his way around the counter to join them. "Long enough to hear that there's a list for heroes and villains," he says as Bree, Chase, and Kaz back up in unison. He nods at the tablet. "So is The Annihilator really on that No Fight List?"

"You're not a superhero, so it's none of your business," Oliver says.

Leo notes the venom in the superhero's words and his glare. Nevertheless, he turns his attention back to his sister. He gestures at the list with his eyes.

Bree hesitates, glancing at Kaz then Oliver.

Leo feigns a sigh. "Fine," he says, turning to walk away. "I'll just ask Team Leader Storm instead."

"Wait!" Bree says.

Leo suppresses a smirk as he watches his sister exchange glances with the boys on her team. She shouldn't hand it over, she's acknowledging to them, but she's also worried her younger brother will tell Skylar what he's overheard.

She's stuck in a dilemma: friendship or list?

Bree hands the tablet over to him with a sigh, choosing her friendship with the Calderan.

Leo smiles in contentment as he searches. Soon, he finds the name. "Number nine," he says. "Huh. He really is in this No Fight List."

"Why do you even have to know?" Oliver asks, irritated. "You've left this profession behind, remember? What's good in knowing if you're not going to do anything about it?"

"Well, Oliver the Grouch, I wanted to see because he also happened to be Skylar's archnemesis," Leo responds. He taps onto the supervillain profile. "I remember reading that he succeeded in turning several superheroes bad and really hurting Skylar to the point of death, and I just wanted to see if everyone else in the hero world remembers that."

"Of course we remember that," Oliver snaps back. "While you were here enjoying this big mansion and your privileged life, Kaz and I were out there _fighting_ alongside her."

"And now you're just fighting her," Leo mumbles towards the screen.

"What'd you say?" Oliver demands.

"Oliver, stop it. Please," Kaz tells him, holding him back. "We're still at the Davenports'. This is his house. His parents are here."

Leo ignores the same indignation bubbling up inside him. Oliver really has no right to pretend as if he's the most loyal person to Skylar. He's hurting her by being so childish with this breakup. Given, it's not the easiest thing to go through, but if he really cares about Skylar like he acts like he does, he should've told the rest of their team not to isolate her for the sake of a dumb 'Bro Code.'

 _This is so stupid,_ he thinks as he scrolls unseeingly through the list.

"Are you done?" Bree asks, hoping to alleviate the situation. She holds out a hand. "I can take that from you now if you are."

Leo sighs. He guesses so. Right now, he just wants to get out of this room and go to the library to help Skylar and his stepfather instead. "Yeah," he says, lingering just a little bit on the list. "I guess I'm—"

And then he sees it, a profile that has become so familiar to him these past few days. He clicks on the small thumbnail, just to make sure he's not seeing things, but seeing it as a larger picture doesn't make it better.

He knows that haircut and that style of clothing; he's always been kind of jealous of it. He knows that back, even if the coat is different. After all, he frequently sees it at the bar, hunched over a never started, never finished drink.

"Who..." Leo shows the screen to Kaz, his courage to ask draining from him as each second passes. "Who is this?"

Kaz frowns. He cranes his head forward, squinting at the profile name underneath. Then, he says, "Oh, that's Rhapsode. I don't really know much about him, but I've heard some heroes talk about him before. No one knows where he is or what's the full range of his abilities. No one even knows what he looks like, I don't think. It's just a widely accepted fact that it's best not to cross him. It's kind of creepy, really. No face, no name? It's hard to go against an enemy like that."

 _No, he's not nameless,_ Leo thinks. _His name is Seo Woo._

 _Seven,_ Leo remembers Vanessa telling Chuck a few days ago while looking at Seo Woo.

Hurriedly, he goes back to the main list, his gut sinking at a terrible suspicion.

He spots another familiar name: The Doctor, number twenty-four on the list. Classified as a villain with no abilities but threatening enough to be identified as high-level danger. Underneath his title is a slew of crimes he's been accused with. Status? Missing. Have not been seen since 2001.

He goes back again, this time opting to see bigger thumbnails for the profiles. Four. He remembers that number, too. Vanessa had been happy to announce that.

Ice washes over him as he finds number four. Long hair and leather jacket the color of a pitch black night, eyes deep and smoky like a well-written mystery. "Vanessa," he mutters.

"What?" Kaz says.

"Nothing," Leo tells him, sure that his insides have been frozen by the realization that he's been spending time with the most notorious of all supervillains.

"Are you okay, man?" Kaz asks. He chuckles. "I know the profiles sound scary but most of the ones on top have been presumed dead. None of them are even alive anymore I don't think. They can't hurt you or your family. There's nothing to worry about."

Leo's chest feels hollow when he stares at the picture of the villain leading the list. The picture is old, perhaps forty to thirty years in age. The man is younger, too – sporting a smart suit and a fedora instead of a simple shirt and jeans which sometimes are covered with a greasy apron. A diminutive, cold expression is on this younger person's face, which could have fooled Leo into thinking that he's someone else.

But his eyes. Though they're friendly now and always curves in joy when he smiles or laughs, he knows those eyes.

Leo almost jumps when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He takes it out then reads the message. _Nisha gave me your number. I'm saving it on my phone,_ Chuck, or Corvus Black as his profile labels him, tells him.

No, the ones on the list aren't dead. He's been talking to them on a regular basis, and two of them have their phone numbers saved on his phone.

"Hey, are you okay?" Chase asks Leo after he pushes the tablet towards Kaz.

"I'm fine. I'm okay," Leo mumbles, hurrying out of the kitchen and into his room.

 _No,_ he tries to tell himself. _This can't be happening._ He couldn't have let himself get tricked like this. He couldn't have just fallen into a trap of becoming good friends with three of the most notorious criminals to have ever existed on this planet.

His heart sinks as he wonders if Chase's, Naomi's, and everyone's life had been in danger today all because of him, all because he had let his guard down.


	9. More Like, Antiheroes

**Chapter Nine**

 _ **More Like, Antiheroes**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _you busy this afternoon? if not, come meet us at the café. amai & i are together. we'll be at your favorite spot._

Leo thinks he must be the stupidest person on the planet right now. There he is, still fuming about the trick Vanessa and company played on him three days after he found out, yet on her invitation to come meet he hops in his mother's car then comes to the place she's set.

Rational people would have deduced that this is not the best idea. He's emotional, they're meeting at a place where a lot of people could get hurt if something goes wrong, and he's playing into a plan wherein she's the one who has set the terms. The obvious choice when she texted him fifteen minutes ago was to ignore like he had done the first time she messaged him after he found out.

But no, he has to make it absolutely difficult. He had to abandon all common sense.

He gets out of the car and had to reluctantly acknowledge that part of the reason he's there today is because he still kind of trusts Vanessa. He doesn't know why, but he does. It's the most frustrating, especially because she and Chuck were the ones who disappointed him most. Nevertheless, a small part of him still urges him to see the best in his new friends.

Walking in through the back door, he spots Amai first. She's at the table by the door, her back turned way from the coffee crowd amassing by the counter, her concentration directed solely on the chessboard in front of her. He searches for Vanessa. True to her word, he finds her at his favorite booth, leaning on the side facing the wall.

 _And facing away from the cameras,_ Leo can't help but add.

"Ah. So I did get the right number," Vanessa says, her smile a darker shade of red in this secluded part of the cafe. She waits until he's settled on the chair across her then adds, "Chuck and I didn't get a reply from you. We were starting to think you've given us wrong information."

Leo doesn't respond. Instead, he only looked at her, wondering if she's actually smiling because she finds him pitiful.

Vanessa slides a large mug of steaming beverage towards him. "I figured you might want some. You wouldn't share the last time so I'm assuming it's your favorite," she says, her smile curiously smaller.

Is she discouraged?

Leo shakes off the sympathy creeping into him. He can't feel that way. That would mean a second defeat.

"Bad day?" Vanessa tries again.

Leo says nothing.

Vanessa coolly takes a hearty sip from her mug. "You're going to have to tell me why you're mad, Leo," she says, that hint of sadness and confusion a little louder in her voice now. "I know you might want me to right now, but I can't read your mind."

"That's right. You can only influence me into doing something you want me to do," Leo finally speaks.

Vanessa leans back on her seat with a sigh. She thinks about this information then she clicks her tongue. "You saw the list," she concludes.

"And I thought you said you can't read my mind."

"I can't, just like I can't influence you the way you think I can," Vanessa says. She notes the hurt in his voice and does her best to smile despite the hostility. "It was just a matter of time. You've got a hero team staying at your house, three of which are registered in the Superhero Network. You're a very curious guy. I figured you'd see it eventually."

"How long have you been watching me?"

Vanessa's bottom lip juts upward. "I won't say I've been watching you, but I _did_ gather information about you after we first met."

"Is it so that you can use me to get more information about them?" Leo asks, something within him breaking a little at that.

Vanessa, unknown to him, understands the implications of his words. "No," she assures him simply.

"Then why?"

"Because, like I said, you're special."

Leo laughs humorlessly. "Right. I'm so special that I believed everything you told me as if they were all true."

"They _are_ all true."

"How do you expect me to believe that? You're considered a super _villain_ , Vanessa. Number Four on that list! One of the people on the superheroes' No Fight List!"

Adversely, that seems to amuse her. "No Fight List?"

Leo looks at her dryly. "Out of all the things I told you, that's the one you picked up?"

"Because I don't want to believe the other things _you_ picked up," Vanessa says. "I am on that list. So what? It may have had all those information about me there but that doesn't make it all true."

The hurt he sees in her eyes causes Leo's anger to wane into disappointment. "Then which ones aren't?" he asks.

"That I'm a bad person," Vanessa answers. She takes another sip of her drink, and when she puts the mug down, the softness in her eyes has become partially clouded by something detached and lonely. "I'm offended that you believe I'm much worse than Martin Farren."

All the tumultuous emotions beating inside him cease at that. How could he have forgotten? The man who has ruined her life, the one who's caused her to be on the run all these years. Martin Farren isn't even on that list, he doesn't think.

Again, he knows he shouldn't, but his gut moves him to believe her. While it could be advantageous to her to have him fall for a lie, the clear fact is that he doesn't read any ill motives from her. At this point, it seems that she's more hurt of his accusation than he is of her crime of omission.

Still: "You could've at least given me a head's up. It definitely would've saved me from feeling like a dum-dum after seeing that list."

She smirks. "You are not dumb, Leo Dooley," she says. "But you do assume a lot of things."

Leo glares at her.

"I do hope you understand that when I took you to the hangar, I knew you were related to superheroes and that you once were one, too," Vanessa tells him. "That never made a difference to me."

"But it changes things for me," Leo says. "What would others think when they find out I've been hanging out with Numbers 1, 4, 7 and 24? By now you must know that things are kind of crazy for us. What would it look like when it becomes known that I've been hanging out, eating fries and drinking tea with supervillains who are supposed to be dead?"

Vanessa's smirk widens, amused by something else he said. "We're not villains, Leo," she tells him instead.

"Then what are you?"

"We're more like...antiheroes."

"Anti...heroes," Leo repeats. "What's the difference?"

"We're heroes for our own causes."

"Heroes. For your own causes."

"Yep."

"And what is your cause?"

"Make others fear me—"

"Then what's—"

"—so Martin Farren will never, ever think about coming near me ever again."

Like earlier, his gut tells him she's being truthful. How else would she have that undercurrent of despise, disgust, and pure, unadulterated anger in her eyes? "What about Seo Woo and Chuck? What are their causes?" he asks in surrender.

"I don't know what Seo Woo's is. He rarely ever uses his abilities, and on the times he did, he happened to go against superheroes, ones that aren't as straight as an arrow as the comic books make it seem. But he did it to stand up to them and protect himself. He's never seriously hurt anyone. There was nothing wrong in what he did."

Then, as she thinks of Chuck, she smiles. "Chuck, you're going to have to ask yourself," she says. "He's not the bad person you think him to be, at least not anymore. He's changed, and the way he did helped even me not to become as evil as the people I hated."

Leo glances back at Amai. "What about her and Nisha?"

"They don't really have an affiliation, but if we're going to be technical, I guess they're antiheroes by association," says Vanessa. "Chuck adopted them into the group, too, just like he did with me. He took them in to save them from the people trying to come after them."

As Leo looks back at Amai and considers the things he's learned and concluded, it upsets him a little that it only took that much for him to let Vanessa off the hook. He had plans of giving her this speech about real friendship and everything! But all he ended up doing is repeating the things she said and asking questions that, while needed to be asked, don't seem to make a lot of impact once answered.

It's all his fault. He had to be sympathetic and kind and understanding and friendly. That's probably why he's become the filler character even in his own life.

Yet, even with all the anger and disappointment gone, one thing still lingers: doubt. "I get what you're saying, and I accept everything, but I don't know that I should come back to the hangar," he tells Vanessa.

Vanessa tilts her head. She mulls over it a moment, and then, "That's disappointing." She sighs and smiles a small smile at him. "I really thought you'd be different from them."

Shock begin to take root somewhere in him as he watches Vanessa get up from her seat. "Vanessa..."

"I have this for you." Vanessa takes out a USB from her right jacket pocket then gently slides it over to him. "This will explain to you what I mean whenever I say you're special. Maybe you'd also see the reason why I persisted in having you come to the hangar."

"Why _did_ you?" Leo says just as she's to leave the booth.

Unlike the ones that he's seen on her face before, the one that he sees now, that coming from a broken heart, wakes him to a reality that for the first time, he's read a person wrong. "Because you needed friends," Vanessa tells him. Afterwards, she goes to Amai, tells her it's time to leave, and then leads her out the door.

Leo leans back and sighs, his shoulders a lot heavier than when he came in.

In retrospect, he could've done things more differently. He could've told her what he's taking issue with, and he could've given her time to answer. He could've refrained from accusing her from the get-go. But everything's been done, and he knows that by letting his anger and worries speak for him, he had created a chink in what had seemed to be strong bonds of friendship.

He looks down at the USB on the table. Vanessa said there were answers there. Though he dreads it, he decides to start there.

He goes home and watches it that afternoon. The flash drive contains only one file, a video. Clicking on it, he sees that it's from two surveillance cameras—particularly the entrance of the cafe and the one mounted on the far-end wall where his favorite booth is.

He sees himself on the right camera, at the bottom right part of the screen, his table littered with pages and packets from school, a book, his phone, and the extra large mug Ahmed always fills up whenever he orders peppermint mocha cappuccino. In the video, he has just plugged his earphones in.

The left camera shows things proceeding as they do on a usual, busier afternoon at the café. Shortly, though, the identifiable walk and form of the girl he had met at the same place earlier comes into view. One by one, customers at the front of the store start to faint.

Shiver slinks through Leo's skin as he watches everyone in the store pass out when Vanessa walks in, her smile as wide and unbothered as if everything is proceeding as normal.

Coming in, she steps over a few of the unconscious people lying on the ground. She comes to the counter, seemingly intent on making her own coffee, when something suddenly catches her attention. She searches around, eyes alert, and follows something.

Meanwhile, on the right camera, he was still working on his homework, nodding his head to the music.

It doesn't take long until the video shows him the moment they first met. Vanessa looks as surprised as he feels now while she looks upon the anomaly that was him.

 _You're interesting,_ Vanessa told him that day _._

 _What's wrong with me?_ Leo asks as he watches himself on that day, sitting at the booth, unaffected and unaware of the biggest surprise to have hit him thus far.


	10. Dinner Conversations

Chapter Ten

 _ **Dinner Conversations**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

For the first time in what seems like forever, their home is quiet. The Elite Force, Parallel (which is the hero name the Elite Force gave Brannon and which Leo thinks is appropriate in describing the alignment of his brain to his spinal cord), Adam, Daniel, and Douglas have all traveled back to Centium City to dig for more information regarding Titan Red and will be gone for another day. Though short, their absence has become a welcome change – that is, if his parents' animated conversation is anything to go by.

However, even in this situation, Leo finds it difficult to concentrate. He sits there, staring at his plate while moving around the quinoa his mother made for dinner. He can barely even register what his stepdad and mother are talking about due to the loudness of his own thoughts.

He just can't get it out of his head now, what Doc told him: _You're not human._ He had thought it outrageous and just a product of the scientist's deluded mind until he saw that video.

"So we're talking about the preschool by Olive Road?"

"Yeah."

"Wouldn't that be too busy for Naomi? She might get scared."

"We could always spring for the one in Grand Trails Avenue. I guess that'd be fine. It is, isn't it, my little princess? Yes it is!"

It's not as if it's the only time it happened. He remembered that day at the park also, when Vanessa first pointed out to him that he's the only one immune to her overwhelming ability. That, added to the proof Vanessa's handed him, pushes him to suspect that the scientist probably wasn't just spewing nonsense that day.

Plus, he has done some more research on Doc. The guy might be completely bonkers and award-winningly rude, but he doesn't lie about results, especially when it's his own experimentation that qualifies them.

"Ugh, how can she be this cute? How can my princess be so adorable?"

"Of course she'd be cute. She's got a handsome father. ...and a pretty mom, too. That's – that's, of course, a given."

Thoughts of Hangar 72 and Vanessa have been keeping him awake these past six days also. Saying he doesn't miss his new acquaintances would be a lie. Their abilities are nice to learn of, but what he finds a lot more interesting is them as people.

The place might be wide and relatively empty, but all that space is always filled with the bigger personalities of those who frequent it: Seo Woo at the bar in whatever model clothes he's wearing that day; Nisha's delightful, hearty laugh when something funny happens in a game; Amai and her ever going game of chess; Doc's crazy hair; Chuck's offers of lunch and rule of finishing them off; Vanessa's cool but kind attitude. He knows and feels and sees them all by heart.

He misses them, but he's not sure he can come back after what he's said to Vanessa.

He looks up when someone touches his arm.

"Honey, are you okay?" his mother asks, drawing back her hand. She smiles, but it's the one with worry behind it. "You've been quiet since we sat down to eat."

"Yeah, you haven't been speaking much for the last few days either," his stepfather adds. "Is everything okay? Something going on at school?"

Leo thinks about it. Then, "Do you know that Farren Tech experiments on people?" he asks his father.

The unexpected response causes his parents to blink in surprise and exchange confused glances. "Where did you hear that?" Donald asks.

Leo stares in disbelief. "So you knew?"

"No, I didn't know that. I've heard a lot of rumors about Farren Tech and Martin Farren, but I haven't heard that one." Donald chuckles and then asks, "What have you been doing? Have you been reading things from gossip websites?"

While Tasha glares at her husband, Leo says, "No. Someone I met told me."

"Leo, not everything everyone says is true. You know that," Donald tells him. "It's probably just a lie."

 _That's what I thought, too,_ Leo thinks.

"How has school been going, sweetheart? Is it all good?" his mother asks.

Leo distractedly glances at Naomi as she excitedly beats her high chair with a spoon. He frowns but shakes it off. "Fine," he says before scooping up another bite.

"Just fine?" Tasha asks.

"It's nothing interesting," he says.

Tasha nods though unconvinced. "Okay."

"So what do you think of everything happening so far?" his stepfather asks, grinning excitedly. "Cool, huh? We got a time traveler and a mystery to solve. Nice, huh?"

"Twenty-one year-old me from the alternate timeline already did time traveling. It's not new," Leo mutters as he tries to squash a dark brown grain with his fork.

The grin on his stepfather's face wanes, and again his parents exchange worried glances.

Donald shrugs, still hopeful. "What about the mystery? You don't think it's cool?"

"There's really none, Big D. I'm sorry," Leo says, eyes still on the things on his plate. "It's Chase. It's always Chase. Or Adam, or Bree. Sometimes Daniel."

"Sweetheart, are you... Do you feel left out?" Tasha asks.

"Mom, am I adopted?" Leo asks sincerely, looking her straight in the eyes.

That appears to have offended her. "Why would you ask something like that?" she asks.

Leo shrugs and goes back to playing with his food. It's not like he can tell her the real reason why.

"It's what that time traveler said, isn't it?" his stepfather guesses, clearly upset.

"Is that it?" his mother asks.

"Yeah. Yeah, that must be it. You know, I've never really liked that guy," Donald declares. He huffs. Then, he tells his stepson, "Don't listen to him, okay? You're part of our family, no matter what other people say."

"No, it – it's not him," Leo admits. He sighs. Can he actually tell his parents about this? "It's just... I don't think I'm human."

His parents stare at him blankly – for a little too long, he should add. "Baby, if school's too much for you, you can always take a break," Tasha says.

Leo rolls his eyes. Of course he can't trust them with that information. "That's not it, Mom. I'm not stressed with school."

"Then why would you say that?" Donald asks.

There is one thing that Leo is positive of at that moment: telling his parents that he's been hanging out with the most dangerous villains is a very, _very_ bad idea. "I'm just making conversation," he replies before focusing back on his plate.

There's silence. Then, a sigh. "Look, sweetheart, I'm sorry I haven't been spending time with you lately, okay?" says his mother. "It's just with Naomi and work and your grandmother always calling me, it's hard to find time."

"Cool. Can I go back to my room now?" he asks, distracted by a small bird perched just outside their window.

"I'm going to have a day off next weekend. How about we spend a day together, just you and me? We can do whatever you'd like."

"Honey, I'm...I'm sorry," his stepfather tells his mother. "We have plans that day, remember? The luncheon with Davenport Industries' board of directors."

His mother glances at him, his stepfather, then back at him. "Well, can't we take Leo, then?" she asks him. "You said some will bring their kids. We can take Leo."

"I know, but, we already agreed that, um..."

Leo sees where his stepfather glances: to Naomi.

Of course. The plan has been to take their daughter and introduce her to the important people. There's no room for him.

 _You win, too,_ Leo tells Naomi, and at that moment he wishes he hadn't said those things to Vanessa. If he hadn't, he probably would've been hanging out at the hangar and wouldn't be subjected to the harsh reality that is his life now. "Thanks for dinner," he tells his mother with a small smile. Then, he leaves for his room.

Lying down on his bed and blasting his new favorite album on his earphone, Leo wonders which is worse: that he can't even talk to his parents without it ending abruptly like this or that he's not too surprised that it turned out this way and not hopeful it'd change. He's heard it many times before that as children grow up, their relationship with their parents change, but does it really have to change this way?

He thinks he must be on a stupid choices streak because the next thing he knows, he's texting Vanessa. _Is there anything you can do to help me get rid of belated teenage angst? I feel like a loser today._

The static noise from her side comes as both expected and spirit-crushing.

But then, a few minutes later: _you're resistant 2 me, remember?_

Leo grins. _What's up with the early 2000's '2' instead of 'to'?_

 _it's a code_

 _A code for what?_

 _a code for: have you seen what's on the flash drive?_

The smile fades from his face. _I'm sorry I said those things to you, Vanessa. Sorry I assumed the worse when all you've been is nice to me. Please tell everyone that 2. (See? I'm learning from you)_

She doesn't reply for a stretch of time. Then, she says, _text apologies are lame. come to the hangar and tell everyone yourself._

A small, sleepy smile pulls at his mouth. _I'm still allowed in?_

 _yes, given that you bring in coffee for everyone._

 _Deal._

 _iced americano for Chuck, frozen sea salt caramel cappuccino for Nisha, berry smoothie with a mountain of whip cream for Amai, double chocolate hot chocolate for Seo Woo, & black hole coffee for me. Doc never drinks outside coffee._

Leo frowns. _I didn't take Seo Woo to be a hot chocolate kind of guy._

 _oh yeah. he's mysteriously sweet._

 _Sounds like a jelly bean._

 _i'll tell him you said that, and that you have a crush on Nisha._ Then, _see you whenever you get here. btw, chuck says you're not a loser. any guy who can eat a pound and a half of fries in one sitting is a winner in his book._

Leo laughs at that. This new reality might not be ideal, but it still gives him a few things worth looking forward to.


	11. The Line Between Good and Bad

Chapter Eleven

 _ **The Line Between Good and Bad**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

Careful, vigilant walking turns into a semi-sprint when Leo hears the devastated wails from somewhere deeper in the hangar. He's careful on the last flight of stairs (because tumbling downwards in the dark with the five drinks he's carrying would just be tragic), but he hurries as soon as he reaches the main room.

He's already nervous coming back here today, not knowing what others might think of him now and how they're going to accept his gifts of apology. To be hit with something unexpected only jolts his nerves into that overlapping space between surprise, confusion, added nervousness, and worry.

He hurriedly puts down the carriers on the bar then sprints to the other room where he hears the voices, especially when they suddenly rise. There, under the magenta glow of the neon lights, he finds something he doesn't expect to see: Chuck, Doc, and Seo Woo standing to the side, watching helplessly as Nisha and Vanessa coax a tearful Amai.

Amai is shaking, he notes, _actually_ quivering as she looks at the laptop sitting on one of the tables.

"Just turn it off," Chuck instructs, his voice not steady either.

"No!" Amai screams. "No, no, no, no, no..."

"Amai, please," Nisha tries. "Just—"

Amai violently swats Nisha's hand away then repeatedly shakes her head. She holds her hands up, her fingers twitching as her mind overloads on her emotion and sensory triggers, before running away into the tunnel.

Inevitably, the eyes of those left land on him.

His heart drops at that. Somehow, through their varying glances, he feels as if whatever happened was his fault.

Vanessa sighs. "I'll go help her," she tells Chuck then follows Amai.

"So will I," Doc says. He takes another glance at him, a wary one this time, before going where Vanessa has gone.

Once the two are gone, Leo finds himself staring at Chuck, Seo Woo, and Nisha.

Ever the kind one, Chuck gives him a small, weary smile. "You came," he says.

"I'm sorry," Leo tells him, especially after catching sight of Seo Woo's glower. "I think I came at a bad time. Maybe I can just..." But he doesn't know what after that.

Chuck walks towards him then guides him back to the main room, his arm on his shoulders. "Let's talk out here," he says.

"Is Amai okay?" Leo asks.

Chucks stops. He sighs. "No, she's not for the mean time."

"Is there...I mean, is there anything I can do?" Leo asks, reading the equally somber expression on Chuck's and now Nisha's faces. "Is it me? Should I leave?"

"It's not you," Nisha tells him kindly, a sad smile on her face.

Leo wonders if he should ask. Would it be too intrusive? Would he be stepping out of line if he does so? He can't even properly gauge how they felt about him being back here after telling Vanessa the things he did.

Chuck, who's moved on to the bar and taken out a shot glass, helps him by saying, "By now you probably know our involvement with the superhero world. Vanessa tells us you know."

Leo nods, suddenly embarrassed.

"You're still young," Chuck says in dismay as he pours vodka into the glass. A small smile pulls at the side of his lips as he exchanges that for the one that's been sitting there. "There are so many things you've yet to find out."

"I'm sorry. I was wrong to tell Vanessa the things I did," Leo apologizes, finding it the most appropriate thing to do.

"That's not what Chuck means," Nisha explains.

"Oh. Well..."

Chuck downs the shot. Clearing his throat, he says, "We intercept information regarding...special persons periodically. We do this, not because we want to meddle, but to keep us safe."

"Safe...from superheroes?"

Nisha nods. "Do you know why Amai is here?" she asks.

Leo thinks about it. "Vanessa said she's running away from someone, too." He looks at Chuck. "She says you took her and Nisha into the group."

Chuck smiles, but the light in it doesn't stay long. "Look, Leo, I want to trust you. I think you're an upstanding kid. But I also know you may have other priorities. You hanging around with us might get you in trouble, and while I appreciate that you care about us enough to come here even when it's not the best time, it might be best to refrain from seeing us for now."

"So it is me? I did something wrong?" Leo asks.

"No. That's not what he means," says Nisha.

"I mean, if you're worried that I'll tattle about you, I won't. I'm not like that," Leo says, later noting the desperation in his voice. "That – that _thing,_ that affiliation or whatever—I'm not...I don't care about it. I came here because I want to be here. All of those other things are none of my business anymore."

"But your safety is my business," Chuck kindly replies.

"No one's going to hurt me here."

"It's not us I'm worried about," Chuck says. "It's the person who's coming."

Leo frowns, now thoroughly confused.

"Show him." Seo Woo stands at the tunnel, the laptop from earlier now in his hands. He glances at Leo then looks at Chuck. Seeing the indecision on Chuck's face, he decidedly comes to the table where Leo and Nisha stand next to then sets up the laptop there.

It takes Leo a little time to get used to seeing Seo Woo so blatantly upset. He's always been so collected despite his cold treatment of him, and to see him like this is alarming. He doubts he's even mad at him; he's mad at whatever it is that he wants him to see.

Looking down on the screen, Leo immediately recognizes the person on the paused video. He's in his armor, cherry red with spots of silver and black strategically placed here and there, and apparently speaking to an unseen person somewhere behind the camera. He'd recognize those bright blue eyes and hair whitened by age anywhere, especially after seeing his profile on the Top Heroes list.

"Ten years ago, Amai lost her twelve year-old son," Nisha explains. She smiles. "That's why Vanessa was frazzled when Amai reacted the way she did when she saw you. You're younger, but it seems like you reminded her of him. It's terrible how she lost him, and we've been doing our best to make sure she doesn't keep remembering it. It's hard for her to handle."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Leo looks at the screen. "Did he have something to do with it?"

Nisha sighs. "From what I've been told before, one of Titan Red's AIs went out of hand and started attacking civilians. The AI didn't hurt anybody, but Titan Red still went after it. Their scuffle led them to a school yard where a few students were playing after school. Titan Red, the person that he is, wanted to show off the newest addition to his armor, so even when the AI is practically defeated, he went full blast. A couple missed the AI, hit the school, and parts of it collapsed on the people still in there."

"Oh no," Leo muttered, horrified by just the image of it. "Please don't say..."

"No. Amare was outside. He was trying to run to safety. He was okay until Titan Red's armor malfunctioned and backfired." Nisha releases a shaky breath, and it's evident that the distress and pity are now mixed with pure indignation. "It killed him on the spot. But poor Amai... She had to come and identify him by herself."

Leo looks back on the screen, but the person there looks different now. "He did that?"

"He got in trouble for that. He apologized and apologized, and for a while people held him accountable. But then, a few months later, he pulls this big rescue thing with Voyager and Stargazer, and suddenly everybody forgot about it. It's like it never happened," Nisha says. "Amai had to run away because he started looking for her. He knows that she knows the truth, and she didn't want to stick around to find out what he's going to do about it."

"The truth...that he was accountable?" Leo asks.

Seo Woo responds by hitting the space bar.

 _"_ _So what are you planning to do when you get to Mission Creek? Are you really gonna help those kids?"_ asks the person off screen.

 _"_ _Yeah, I guess so,"_ responds Titan Red, picking up a tablet from the coffee table. _"It's been a while since I've done a team-up, and – "_ he chuckles, _"this one sounds pretty promising. They're on people's radars. It's a good opportunity."_

 _"_ _They told you why they're bringing you aboard?"_

 _"_ _Yeah. Something about a time traveler. Villains are hot on their trail, too, so they really need the help."_

 _"_ _Do you believe about all this future thing?"_

 _"_ _Oh yeah."_

 _"_ _You don't look like you do."_

 _"_ _I do, I do. I'm just not jumping up and down about it, but it's good."_

 _"_ _Oh, by the way, Cards called. He said they were wondering if you're still interested in being their brand's spokesperson."_

Titan Red wrinkles his nose, still distracted by his tablet. _"The offer's too low. All that 'benefit the orphans in Africa' crap would look pretty on my profile, but I'm not interested. If they really want me to take a picture with those malnourished kids, I expect a higher amount."_

 _"_ _Sounds harsh."_

 _"_ _Yeah, well, that's reality. If they want someone to agree to that deal, they should get one of the rising superheroes to do it. Maybe Lady Windsor. Heard she's been off the scene a while because she got pregnant. She's got some nerve."_ He grinned. _"That's what they're good for anyways: slack off and become a mess to clean. Maybe she could do that campaign Cards want to do. She can smile and look pretty and get paid to do nothing."_

They laugh, and Leo's never felt a strong a desire to reach into the screen and shake someone back into their senses.

 _"_ _Here's a lesson for you, Arnold: when it comes to being a superhero, it's important to know how much you're worth. See, with me, cheap offers like that is not me. I've got businesses lining up outside my door to pay me triple the amount. I've worked hard for that. I don't need to go by sentiments like these kids go by. You have to be smart."_

 _"_ _Well, we worked hard to get back where we are now."_

 _"_ _Oh, yeah. Yeah, that terrible village school thing."_ Titan Red thinks over that a while, then he says, _"People are still whining about that online. It's been ten years. Those kids aren't coming back. They gotta let that go."_

 _"_ _Well, they're casualties."_

 _"_ _So? People die. It's gonna happen one day anyways. It's those kids' fault for standing there like they don't know what's good for them."_

 _"_ _But, sir, your armor—"_

 _"_ _Backfired. Whatever. It happens. That's what my lawyers and insurance are for."_ He's silent for a moment, scrolling up the tablet with an alarmingly unaffected expression, before smiling. _"It worked out well, though. That whole thing really made my superhero portfolio all the more interesting. My career was kind of hitting that plateau, but all that fallen hero, redemption incident worked to my advantage. Offers from companies doubled after that. I'm making lots of profit from those kids. It's fantastic."_

"What?" Leo mutters. _This jerk doesn't even feel sorry about it!_

 _"_ _By the way, have you—"_

Seo Woo hit the space bar again, freezing on the screen the face of the person Leo's come to despise.

"Whatever it is that you think of him now, the reality is worse," Chuck says. "The line between good and bad in the world of superheroes is not as clear as you think, Leo. Others may believe otherwise, but I know Titan Red. I know that he's dangerous. That's why I'm worried about you. He's like a bloodhound. He can smell those who stands in his way, those who knows the truth about him."

"Do you know why he's coming?" Leo asks but only to see how much they knew.

Chuck nods. "Last we checked, he's on his way to your house."

Leo nods thoughtfully. "Are you afraid of him?"

Chuck smiles. "No."

"Then neither am I." He heads to the staircase and says, "Please tell Vanessa I'll text her. I'll come back soon."

"Be careful!" he hears Nisha call after him.

Leo's heart pounds as he jogs up the stairs, as he once again ascends from darkness to light. Thinking about Amai, what happened to her son, and Titan Red's unapologetic attitude about it make his heart pound harder. He knows his veins are pulsing with anger, too, just like Seo Woo's and Nisha's probably do.

People trusted Titan Red. Now his family will trust him, and just the thought that this hero is essentially twisted, materialistic, and heartless churns his stomach in the most unpleasant way.

Like Nisha and Chuck have asked, he will be careful, but Titan Red will have another thing coming if he thinks he's just gonna stand by there and not put his foot down for the people he loves.


	12. Embarrassing

Chapter Twelve

 _ **Embarrassing**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

Leo comes home to a big, black, shiny sedan parked in the garage and the sound of Naomi screaming her head off somewhere inside the house. _He can't be here already,_ he thinks as he eyes the sedan on his way inside his home.

The confirmation that he arrived a little too late welcomes him when he opens the front door. Naomi is there, being passed from her father to their mother as she continues to sulk, but it seems like she's the only one unhappy about the guests they have standing in their living room.

Smiles. They are all smiles about it. Adam and Bree and Chase are watching with pride and wonder as Titan Red coos over the baby girl. Kaz and Oliver look at the veteran superhero, who's much taller and more handsome in person, with such immeasurable elation as if it's the best thing that has ever happened to them. Even his parents, who have never been impressed with non-bionic superheroes, seemed honored to have their visitor there.

Brannon doesn't seem particularly excited that he has to share the spotlight, but he doesn't look like he hates it either.

It sickens Leo just to see him there, to see him bask in this undeserved attention his family and acquaintances rain down upon him.

 _Be careful!_ he remembers Nisha warn him.

 _He's like a bloodhound,_ Chuck has said.

"Oh hey!" his mother greets him when she finally notices him standing there. "Look, honey – we have guests!"

Titan Red smiles. "You must be Leo," he says. "Your siblings told me about you on the way here. It's nice to finally meet you."

"This is Titan Red," Adam excitedly introduces. "Like, you know, the one in those comics we used to read?"

"You used to read my comics?" Titan Red asks.

"Well, yeah. Before," admits Adam bashfully.

"I didn't even think people paid any attention to that thing. I'm embarrassed now," Titan Red says, scratching his head.

 _He must feel some kind of rush lying to people like that to their faces,_ Leo thinks as everyone laughs.

"You were gone for quite a bit there, man," his stepfather tells him as he closes the door. "Did you stop by school, or...?"

"No. Just went somewhere to get something to drink," Leo says, hoping that his glances at Titan Red aren't coming across as glares.

"Well, do you want to join us for a late lunch? Titan Red and..."

"Arnold Coulter."

"Arnold came a little earlier than expected, and they're a bit hungry," says his stepfather. "We're thinking of having them settle down for a bit, get their things in place, and take them to one of our favorite spots."

Leo blinks, incredulous. "They're staying here?"

Titan Red must've mistaken it as excitement because he smirks. "Yes!" his stepfather responds, also thinking he was elated. "Yes, they're staying with us. That's cool, huh?"

"Again, Mr. Sawyer, we really appreciate you coming all the way here to help us," Chase tells their guest. "It makes us feel a bit more comfortable to have a seasoned hero like you on our side."

"Oh, the honor's all mine. I've been hearing about the big things you kids have been doing, and it makes me feel at ease that the generation coming after us oldies is—"

"No!"

Titan Red, like the others, looks at Naomi after she screams, pouting within her mother's embrace.

No, not look. It's only a look if you don't look close enough.

It's a glare – a glare because she distracted others while he was speaking, a glare because she interrupted him.

"Naomi..." Tasha sighs as the toddler crosses her arms and turns away from her, tears glazing her eyes. "I'm sorry," she tells Titan Red. "She's not usually like this. She's gotten better with guests, but today...today she's just so cranky."

Titan Red, the professional that he is, only smiles sympathetically. "It's all right."

"Maybe in a day or two," Tasha says consolingly.

"But like you were saying, Mr. Sawyer," Chase continues – a sort of apology, "really, the only reason why we're able to do the things we're able to do is because we work as a team. We're able to do the things we did because we work well together."

 _Yeah, you guys work so well together in isolating Skylar that she's gonna leave for Caldera soon,_ Leo thinks.

It is then that he notices it. He looks around the room once more, twice. Skylar.

"Where _is_ Skylar anyways?" his mother asks as if she's read what he's thought.

"Oh, uh, she said she needed to make a stop somewhere to check on something," Kaz answers.

Donald frowns. "She mention what it is?"

"No. She said it was something personal."

"Skylar...Skylar Storm, right? The girl from Caldera?" Titan Red asks, the smile on his face curiously large. When Chase nods, he says thoughtfully, "I saw her on the list. She's Number 17. I don't think I've ever met her in person."

"She'll be here later," Bree assures.

"I didn't know you were a fan," Kaz comments.

"Oh, no, I – I just find her very fascinating," Titan Red says. "Arnold's told me about her, and she seems like a strong girl."

While the eyes of some of the Elite Force fill with a shadow of jealousy, Leo sharpens his vision of Titan Red, especially with that weird cross of grin and smirk on his face. His fascination of Skylar is strange. _It's almost like he wants to meet her so he can compare her with him and prove that he's better._

Donald claps his hands together and says, "Well, if you two are ready to see where you're staying, I'll be more than happy to show you around."

"Oh, yes, please," Titan Red says, grinning. "We appreciate your hospitality, Mr. Davenport. Hopefully we're not much of a bother."

"Oh, of course not. You're here to help my son, and that means much more to me."

"Oh, it's no big deal."

"Sir, I can go get our luggages..." Arnold suggests.

"Sure, sure," Titan Red dismisses, causing the assistant to scurry out to the driveway.

"Leo, you haven't told us yet if you're coming to dinner," Donald reminds his stepson.

"Ugh, dinner," Adam expresses dramatically. "I could totally go for that right now. I'm starving."

"I'm sure the big fella is too," Kaz says of Titan Red.

Titan Red chuckles. "Yeah. Yeah, I can definitely use some after we get things situated." He smiles at each of his audience, something that Leo's absolute he's rehearsed a thousand times, then says, "It's been so many years, and I'm just glad to be called out from retirement to do something good again. To be honest, I'm just thrilled for this chance to get to know all of you."

"It's not actually because you don't know who we are, is it?" Kaz jokes. Everyone but Leo and Naomi laugh.

"No, no, it's not that. Of course I know who all of you are," says Titan Red. "I just meant getting to know you as people and not your capes and masks. Those two things protect heroes, but through my experience it also hinders common people from knowing us, you know?"

"Yeah."

"That's true."

"So, this dinner will be nice 'cause I'd get to know Adam Davenport and the Elite Force, and the couple behind Davenport Industries." Titan Red turns to Naomi with a teasing grin. "And maybe, just maybe, I could get to know this cute little prin—"

"Nooo!" Naomi screams, swatting the stranger's hand away.

The family, even Oliver and Kaz, is mortified. Titan Red is surprised, too, but all too quickly the surprise is overshadowed by something else: resentment. Resentment that layers onto the resentment he felt earlier for her interruption.

But, only Leo sees that.

"Naomi, stop it. You're not being nice today," Tasha chides the little girl.

"You know, sometimes, she just needs to get familiar with a person. That's what happened with Skylar, right?" Donald offers, smiling uncomfortably.

"Yeah! Maybe you can try holding her," Bree suggests. Then, to her little sister, "You like shiny things, right, Mimi? Look! Look at Mr. Titan Red's suit. It's so shiny. And it's red!"

"Yeah, maybe you could try holding her for a moment, Mr. Sawyer?" Chase goads.

Titan Red smiles, holds out his hand. "Yeah, sure."

"Yeah, let's try it," Donald encourages.

Seeing his mother unquestioningly hand over his already whining sister, Leo's instinct kicks in. "Yeah," he says as he briskly intercepts his sister, "let's not."

"Leo," his mother growls.

Leo sees surprise and antipathy in their glare, the most concerning of which is Oliver's. However, he's easily distracted by how tightly Naomi holds onto him as she hides her face on his shoulder. "She doesn't want to go with him, Mom," he tells their mother.

"That's so rude," Bree comments.

"That's why we're trying to have Mr. Sawyer hold her," Donald explains.

Titan Red smiles, but it doesn't look as flawlessly fake as earlier. "That's okay, Mr. Davenport," he says. "It's not a big deal. He's right: I'm still a stranger, and he has to protect her from me for now."

The effect is immediate. With those few words, the teenager has become the bad guy. "Dude," Kaz says to him, disappointed. "Titan Red's a top superhero. Why would you do something like that?"

"Yeah," Chase agrees. "Mr. Sawyer is here to help protect me, protect _us,_ from all the villains. Don't be mean, Leo."

Leo could laugh. A professional conman _and_ a master manipulator. _He's way too good at this – but I'm better._ He strokes Naomi on the back to comfort her, smiles, and then says, "Yeah, and I hope that's what he really came here to do. Not, you know, use this to build his portfolio?"

The mask slips significantly. Not all the way, but enough that Leo can see clearly in Titan Red's eyes that he has been hit at a spot he never expected to be hit.

Unfortunately, though, everyone else is too preoccupied gaping or glaring at him to really see what's on the 'superhero's' face.

The way they're regarding him takes Leo back to when Marcus presented himself as their friend, and they took him in wholeheartedly. His heart sinks a bit at that realization. Five years, and things have not changed. More and more, it's becoming clear to him that his words never carried any weight.

But then, Naomi...Naomi believes him.

"It makes me wonder," Leo continues, "how much sponsorship and offers do you think you'll get if your suit malfunctions again and you 'accidentally' crushed Donald Davenport's two year-old daughter?"

"Leo! You're going too far," Donald warns.

Leo ignores his stepfather and stares Titan Red straight in the eye. "Stay away from my sister," he tells him. Then, with Naomi secure in his arms, he leaves for a safer place for them both.


	13. Heart of Gold

**_tw:_ death of a loved one discussed within**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

 _ **Heart of Gold**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

The coding is absolutely kicking him on the backside right now. He's tried over and over again, changing the commands that make the microchip run weird, but it's just not coming to him. It's his eighth try, and so far all he's succeeded to do is fry two circuit boards and accidentally make a portable charger.

Leo sighs, leaning on his chair as he stares at his laptop.

Given, he could've asked his stepfather or even his step-uncle for help; it would've made building X-043 a lot easier. However, things aren't ideal at home right now. After 'mouthing off' at Titan Red (as Oliver resentfully muttered four nights ago), everybody's been upset with him.

Actually, it's not what he said that upset them. It's what he _didn't_ that has been making them—minus Naomi—quite unhappy.

He broods at the lines of codes on the screen for a few more minutes before remembering the only other person in the room. Looking at the bar, he finds Seo Woo still sitting there, unmoving and wordless as usual. The thirty-something year old looks deceptively friendly today with his summer outfit and straw hat that, again, appears to have been ripped off from the pages of Vogue.

Leo bites the insides of his lip as he debates how sound the idea in his head is. But then again, as his mother once told him, _You won't know until you try._ "Hyungnim," he calls.

Seo Woo only slightly moves.

"Uh, you...Coding is a language, too, right?"

Seo Woo says nothing, does nothing.

But something tells Leo that the answer is yes. "So, you can understand when something is wrong with a code, right?"

Again, nothing, but again, a yes.

Leo scratches his head. "Do you think you can help me with my project?" he asks. "It's driving me nuts because I don't know what I'm doing wrong, and I really need help."

He only hears a scoff that hints at a smirk. Seo Woo shifts in his seat. Then, nothing. Again, there's static noise between them.

 _So I guess that's a no,_ Leo concludes. The response is not at all unexpected, but somehow he does feel disappointed and a little saddened that even the hangar's forever patron won't help him.

He startles a little when someone places a frosted mug by his laptop. Looking up, he sees Chuck smiling at him. "Thought you might want some of my famous iced tea that you love so much," he jokes. "You're working hard over here."

Leo grins. "Thanks," he says before taking a hearty swig.

As he does, Chuck looks at the medium sized box and the backpack that the teenager has brought along with his usual messenger bag. He frowns. "You...You didn't happen to run away, did you?"

Leo glances at the reasons why he's asked then sighs. "No," he says, "but I might come here a bit more often. Things are kind of tough at home right now."

"Oh?" Chuck says, pulling out a chair.

"Everyone's kind of annoyed with me," Leo says. He glances at Chuck before reluctantly admitting, "I kinda told off Titan Red, and they want me to say sorry."

"I'm sorry, you what?"

"I know. I know you told me not to cross him, but—" Leo sits up, "he was going to hold Naomi! And he was wearing his suit! It was kind of annoying, too, because everyone is praising him, and he was being so fake with his 'It's a privilege to work with you.' It was sickening."

"Leo..."

"I know. I know it was wrong, but no way am I apologizing to him."

Chuck crosses his arms as he leans on the table and ponders over what the teenager just said. After a moment, he says, "You should apologize to him."

Leo gapes. "No! Why?"

"Look, I don't want you to either, but you'd be safer if you just do it," Chuck advises. "I know it may seem like Titan Red's easy to take on, but he's powerful. He doesn't hold his place in the ranking for nothing."

"You're taking his side?"

"No. That's not what I'm trying to do."

Even with his calm and kind demeanor, Leo still feels hurt by that. It fills him with anger at first to realize that another person he respects want him to do something he doesn't want to do, and then dread comes over him when he thinks that Vanessa might say the same.

Then, finally, there's sadness, which seems to be his eternal companion now. "You know," he tells Chuck, "about five years ago, there was a guy who pretended that he wants to be friends with my siblings. I told my family that he's bad, but they didn't believe me. Until the moment they found out it was true, they didn't believe me. It's happening again, and again no one believes me."

Chuck's expression softens. "I believe you. I know what you're saying is true—"

"Then why do you ask me to lower myself in front of that prick?"

"Because he's not worth your time or your attention," Chuck tells him. He smiles sadly. "The things I'm telling you I told Vanessa a long time ago. There are some people who are just not worth it. You're a brilliant boy. Look at the things you're trying to accomplish! It's no doubt you're talented. People like you are ones who easily come up in people's radars. People like Titan Red, who gets jealous very easily and wants to squash out whoever gets in his way."

A ghost of a smirk pulls at Leo's lips. "I don't know about that coming up easily on people's radars," he admits. "It's been years, and no one even remembers me. I don't think my mom even remembers I'm there anymore. It's like the walls absorb me when I'm at home."

He chuckles bitterly. "Maybe I should have tried for being a villain. Makes sense, you know? Black guy equals bad guy. It's like it's expected, but people still get excited at the thought of it."

Chuck lightheartedly laughs at the joke. "Coming from an ex-villain, I can honestly say it wouldn't have worked out for you anyways."

Leo smiles. "Why not?"

Chuck gets up from his seat, grinning. "Because you're clumsy," he says then leaves.

Leo gapes as he watches Chuck head back into the kitchen. He's a bit offended, but he's mostly amused.

Once the owner is gone, he turns his gaze back to his laptop. He realizes then that he's reached his limit for the day. His brain refuses to work now and is itching to get distracted by something else more worthy than this.

At that, he's reminded of the box parked by his foot. He crosses his arms as he stares ponderously at it. He wants to wait until Vanessa comes back because he's worried he'd end up making a mistake, but he realizes that Amai – she's just like any one of them, too. As long as he stays away from the chessboard, he should be okay.

He picks up the box then heads for the other room. Coming in, he notices how it's significantly darker inside, probably because some of the booths have their lights turned off today. A somber mood also clouds the room. Amai, whose thoughtful regard at her chessboard always brightens and enlivens the wide space, looks notably unmotivated.

The pieces in the chessboard are all at their starting places. Amai's head is turned away, lost in a different game – a sad and losing one – in her mind.

Leo pauses in his stride, takes a deep breath, and then slowly approaches Amai's booth. "Amai?" he calls softly. The tactician turns her head to his general direction but doesn't look at him. He tries to smile encouragingly. "Do you mind if I sit with you for a moment?" he asks.

Amai doesn't answer. She only turns back and looks at the space where the table and the wall connects, the same space she's been lost in for a while.

Still, Leo doesn't read any hostile feelings from her. So, albeit cautiously, he takes the seat across.

He glances at her to gauge how she feels about what he just did. "I heard about what happened, and I'm really sorry," he says softly. "I won't pretend to know exactly how you feel, because I don't. But I can sympathize. I'm really sorry."

Leo glances again and finds her still staring into that same space. However, there's a flicker of something stronger. Grief, it looks like – but only a preview of it. It's like a five-second live video of a storm at sea: it's tangible and intangible at the same time.

He continues, "I wanted to say sorry, too, because I know you probably know why he's here and where he's staying. I don't know if this will make you feel better, but I don't want him there. I don't like him. But, my family does because they don't know. For now I have no choice but to let things be."

Not seeing the tears teasing in her eyes, Leo taps the box he has then says, "Anyways, I brought something to make it up to you. I don't know if you'll like it, but..." He opens the box then takes out the three small pots of orchids: two pink, one blue. He places them in a line in front of the chessboard. "I saw them at that flower shop a few blocks down from here. Or up from here, not really sure. It was on sale, but they're still pretty, and I thought you might like them.

"The guy said they're easy to care for. Just put an ice cube or two in each every few days or so, and they should be good. I thought that maybe, you might want an audience for when you play chess or something." He smiles. "But, if you don't want them, I can always..."

He trails off when he sees the tears streaming down Amai's cheeks. His brain scrambles for what to do and for what he had done wrong, but then Amai says, "I miss him."

His heart sinks at that. "I know you do," he says.

"He would have been twenty-two years, five days, nine hours, and twenty-one seconds old," Amai says, sobbing softly.

 _His birthday was five days ago._ Leo doesn't know what to say at first, but then he remembers Skylar. He remembers when she said that no one wants to talk about their friends anymore, the one that they lost, and how that made her sadder. He smiles a small smile at Amai. "What was Amare like?"

A small smile also pulls at Amai's lips. "Kind. He was so kind. Amare was a kind little boy," she says. "You're just like him."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes," Amai says. She steals a glance at the orchids then says, "He brought home flowers for me once. Just like you did."

The smile on his face shrinks a little. "If you want, I can just take these away if it makes things worse for you."

"No, no," Amai says, shaking her head fervently. "They're mine. I want them. I want them to watch me." She's still for a moment. Then, she reaches out for the small plants one by one to put them at her side and against the wall.

Leo smiles. "You know, they need some sunlight, so if you want, I can bring in some light panels the next time I come back."

Amai thinks about it for a moment before saying, "Okay."

"All right." He waits for her to say something, but all Amai does is stare pensively at the orchids that now brighten her table. Content with that for now, he decides to slide out of the booth to head back to the other room.

He's surprised to see Vanessa at the mouth of the tunnel, her arms crossed and mouth in a smirk. She turns around on her heels then vanishes somewhere into the next room.

Following her, he finds another surprise: Seo Woo facing them instead of the bar. He has the same unreadable, expressionless expression, but there's something strange about it. Not bad strange, just unusual strange. He's looking at him. It's like he's still suspicious of him but now respects him a little at the same time.

Ignoring him, Leo turns towards Vanessa. _I've been waiting for you,_ he wants to tell her. However, her smirk distracts him. "What?" he says.

Vanessa glances at his laptop then says, "A brilliant inventor with a heart of gold. You really are unusual."

 _A brilliant inventor with a heart of gold._ Leo doesn't see Vanessa leave for the kitchen because the room fills with those words.

Male, intelligent, and who once had a good heart. Brannon said that the target fits those descriptions. Is it possible? Could _he_ be the one to turn bad and change the future for everyone?

Leo shakes his head, goose bumps slinking through his arms. No. Of course not. Those descriptions only fit Chase. It's always Chase or his siblings. Always, always, always.

He takes a seat in front of his laptop but finds it difficult to focus. Suddenly, he's afraid of continuing this project. He's doubting now, and he's not sure if he wants to go on with it.

He startles again, but this time because of Seo Woo taking a seat at the chair Chuck sat on earlier. He spins the laptop towards him then frowns at the code for a long moment. "This is wrong," he says, turning the laptop then pointing at a short command on the screen.

"Huh? Which one?" Leo asks, half-dazed.

"This. It loops it back, cuts it short."

"Oh."

Watching Seo Woo spin the laptop towards him again makes Leo feel a bit better. Brannon said intelligent. If he had been intelligent, he wouldn't have needed help with something complex. Intelligent is Chase, and good heart is also Chase.

 _It's okay. It's safe,_ he tells himself and happily resigns himself to Seo Woo agreeing to help him for the first time.

As he does, he notices confusion deepen on the omnilingual's features. It wouldn't have been strange if not for the suspicious glance he also casts his way. "What's wrong, hyungnim?"

Seo Woo frowns at the screen for a minute. "How did you come up with this code?"

Leo shrugs. "Just based on what I know plus some trial and error, I guess," he says. "Why?"

Seo Woo turns his attention back to the laptop. _"Opseo,_ " he says.

Thanks to Bree and her undying love of Korean pop songs, Leo knows that _opseo_ means 'nothing.'

What he doesn't know, though, is whether Seo Woo is telling the truth or not.


	14. The Sign of Seven

Chapter Fourteen

 _ **The Sign of Seven**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

Leo narrows his eyes at the phantom of a bird chirping happily within a niche in the bushes. He's pretty sure that same bird has been watching him. He saw it flitting outside the dining room window when he had (the awkward) dinner with his parents some days ago, sitting above another bush when he took Naomi from Titan Red a few more days after that, and now he's listening to it twitter in a rather inconspicuous spot.

It's as if it goes wherever he goes.

Then again, there's a possibility that he's just plain lost his mind. Reading and revising and rereading the codes of his invention over and over again has probably turned him excessively analytical and superfluously paranoid about usual things.

A bird is just a bird. Of course it would fly and visit familiar places and cheep joyfully—those are the things little birds do. Nothing unusual in that.

"Leee-yoh."

Leo turns to see Naomi holding up a red ball towards him. He smiles as he takes it. "Thank you," he says.

Naomi says nothing, only turns her attention back to the other multi-colored ones surrounding her in the makeshift ball pit her older brother made for her.

The door to the backyard clicks then slides open. Looking up, Leo sees Skylar step out, pause at the sight of him, and then smile. "My timing's always off," she comments.

Leo smirks. "Why? You don't want to see me?"

"I just meant I catch you out here when you probably want to be alone," Skylar says, closing the door. Coming closer to join him, she pauses for a second when she sees Naomi. "Oh, hi, Naomi!" she greets the two year-old with a wave. "How are you, pretty girl?"

Leo grins, watching the Calderan play with the toddler. "You're finally back," he says.

"Yeah. Finally."

"Have your teammates seen you yet?"

"I've said hi to your siblings and Oliver. Talked a bit with Kaz."

"Ah."

"They've been busy these past few days. It seems they're making progress."

"Yeah, it seems like." Leo frowns slightly. "Weren't you doing some work on your own, too? I thought that's why you left a few days."

Skylar smiles, but it's a noticeably sad one. "No, I was off meeting a friend," she says.

It only takes Leo a moment to realize what about. "So it's really real, huh. You're really leaving."

Skylar's eyes as she looks at him give him the answer.

Leo sighs.

"By the way, Kaz updated me about what happened while I was gone," Skylar says. She lowers her voice. "He said you fought with Titan Red?"

Leo rolls his eyes. "I didn't fight with him, I just told him to stay away from Naomi."

"Hm. Why?"

"Because he's shady, and Naomi clearly didn't like being around him. Yet he keeps forcing her to be friends with him." He huffs. "I can't believe they blew that out of proportion."

"I think everyone's getting bored. Any drama will do."

Leo looks at Skylar closely. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you interested in what I think about Tin Can Red?"

Skylar grins at the joke. Eventually, she admits, "I don't feel right about him either."

"You know – I mean, you think something's wrong with him, too?"

Skylar pushes around a blue ball in the pit, thinking. "My bad people radar isn't as good as yours, but yeah – something's off about him. I've been around him before, and that something's always been there."

 _Wait. You believe me, too?_ Leo almost blurts out but stops the words short. The thought that a girl he has a high opinion about is on his side utterly elates him. However, he can't make that obvious, especially not with the eyes and ears watching them in (and probably out) of the house.

 _You should apologize to him,_ Chuck's advice rings in his ears. To keep them safe, he should probably do just that.

"How's your project going, by the way?" Skylar asks.

"It's...going," Leo says. "I'm trying to put some of the components together, but there wasn't much success. Just need to work on it harder."

"Why don't you ask Chase or Mr. Davenport for help? It'd make it easier."

"But then I'll have them constantly telling me what's wrong and how _they_ could make it better and how it would probably end up being a danger to everyone." Leo notes the bitterness in his words and regrets it. "I just want to succeed on my own, for once. I want to be good at something by myself."

Skylar nods, empathetic. "So I take it that the design book is a secret?"

"Yeah. One that I hope will be safe with you."

Skylar smiles. "Of course," she says. "After all, you're keeping one for me, too."

"I'm keeping—oh! Oh, right. Right. That one."

A grin comes up to Skylar's lips, but it's short-lived. "That's why I actually left for a few days. I'm trying to find the best way to get to Caldera."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I thought about hitching a ride, but from here to there it will take weeks. I just want to get there quickly."

"I thought you guys have that dimension thing before? It's not fixed yet?"

"No one bothered to. They just filed it away in one of the storage rooms at the new hospital."

"New hospital." Leo's eyes widen. "They've got a new Mighty Med?!"

"Shh! Yes, they do," Skylar confirms as she checks the door then the windows on the second floor for anyone who might be listening. She leans closer in the slightest and says so quietly, "It's in a different place now. Oliver and Kaz do not know about it."

"Why not? Didn't they use to be doctors there?"

"Well, it's kind of tricky. The board thinks they're compromised since they're superheroes now, too. They're still debating whether to alert them."

"How'd you find out about it?"

"A friend of mine. They're considering her for a position. I came to ask her for help with the transportation issue I'm having, and she ended up taking me to the new Mighty Med. On the condition I won't tell anyone about it, of course."

"So, will you tell Oliver and Kaz about it?" Leo asks slowly, carefully.

A particular sorrow casts a shadow over Skylar's face. "I don't know if I should. They still won't talk about Mighty Med, and I just don't know if they're ready to find out about this."

"You think it'd upset them?"

Skylar nods.

"And what do you think about it? The new hospital?"

Skylar sighs. She tries to smile but fails. "It just seems like they got it together so quickly, like they were hurrying," she says. "A part of me knows that they did have to do that because there are still many who will need their help, but...I don't know. I don't know if I'm ready for that."

"It feels like they were too quick to replace everything?"

"Yeah. I know it's illogical, but looking around the new place, it just seems like they forgot everyone who died that day too easily. They moved on too fast."

Leo nods. "I'm sorry."

"Me, too. I think that's why I thought it'd be better not to tell them for now; they'd just probably be more upset than I am." Skylar pauses thoughtfully. "Honestly, I think it made me more adamant to leave. I just...I don't know if I want to move on yet. Humans here, they move way too fast. They speed up and speed up and lose track of everything else that's important. I want to be in Caldera, slow down, and just...just think about my friends for a while."

A soft smile tugs at an edge of Leo's lips. A place to go when everything else is going wrong. Maybe that's what the hangar has become for him: a refuge. "You have to do what you have to do," he tells her, "but still, I think I'll miss you."

His heart does a painful twist at that slip. How can he be so careless? Those words imply a little too much. He can't take it back anymore. What will she think now?

But then Skylar smiles down at the ball pit then up at him. She further complicates his wicked feelings by saying, "You should come to Caldera sometimes. We've got plenty of space there for testing your inventions."

Leo blinks. "But, like, wouldn't I burn up?" he half-jokes.

Skylar chuckles. "We've got thermal regulators. It should keep you safe."

 _She's just being a friend, weirdo,_ a voice rings in the back of his head. _Just take her invitation as is!_ Leo smiles at Skylar. "That'd be awesome," he tells her, "especially with this one I'm working on now. As it comes closer to completion, I'm gonna need a lot of space to test it out."

"Lee-yoh. Here," Naomi says, handing over another ball to her brother.

"Are you still having problems with the power distribution?" Skylar asks him.

"Yeah," Leo says, taking another ball as Naomi hands him another one. As Naomi hands over more, he collects them in his arms. "Everything is just so uneven. Besides coding the microchip and getting the correct measurements for the wires, the dimensions have been giving me—Naomi, why do you keep handing me these?"

"So you c'n play."

Skylar grins, highly amused.

"Oh, you want me to play with you?" Leo asks.

"No. It' for you."

"Uh, well, okay."

"I think she just wants to share them with you," Skylar tells him.

"Yeah, I guess so," Leo says. He looks down at how many he now has in his embrace. Eight—no, nine as Naomi deposits another one. It's a bit uncomfortable holding them. They're all sliding on top of one another, and the plastic just slips against the fabric of his shirt. He knows the solution is to dump the balls back into the kiddie pool, but he worries Naomi might think he's refusing her gifts.

 _If it had been blocks, I could have stacked them,_ Leo thinks.

It then occurs to him: spheres are equal on all sides. He only needs to find the right radius, calculate the circumference and the diameter. He also needs to tweak the design a bit, and...

And his problem with power distribution will be solved.

Leo spills the toys back into the pool as he leaps forward to hug his sister. "Naomi! You're a genius!" he tells her. He kisses her on the cheek. "You're awesome!"

"What happened?" Skylar asks.

"Power distribution," Leo answers. He picks up a ball then shows it to her. "If all sides are equal, I don't have to worry about how the energy will spread. They're all even! All I've gotta do is figure out the measurements!"

Skylar nods, impressed. "Well, there you go," she says.

"Yeah," Leo says in a content, triumphant breath. "There it goes."

"Hey. You two." Looking up, they see Arnold Coulter, a somber expression on his face. He points behind him with his thumb. "You need to get back in. Something's happening inside."

Leo and Skylar exchange glances. "Even me too?" Leo asks.

Arnold nods, annoyed. "Mr. Sawyer said you must see it, too."

Leo narrows his eyes. _He's a bloodhound,_ he remembers Chuck's cautionary comment.

"We'll be there," Skylar assures the assistant. As he leaves, she stands up.

Leo does the same and picks up Naomi in the process.

They pause when, on their way in, they see Oliver standing there, his gaze towards them sharp and condemnatory. Leo wonders for a brief moment how long he's been watching them and how much of their conversation he's heard. He worries about his invention, but when he opens his mouth to greet him, the superhero only turns away and leaves.

"Did we do something?" Leo asks Skylar, Naomi now finding the collar of his shirt interesting.

Skylar only gazes at the space Oliver occupied then left with a hard but also broken eyes. "Let's go inside" is all she tells him before heading in.

The mood inside the house, particularly in the kitchen, isn't any better. A half-circle has formed at the edge of the counter, all a safe distance from the object sitting on top of it.

"What's going on?" Leo asks, shifting Naomi to his other arm upon seeing Titan Red standing with the group.

"The future," Kaz says in dread and curiosity. "It's changing."

Coming closer, Leo and Skylar see the photograph, the one that Brannon has brought as a reference to the future, change in front of their eyes. The change is like a weak fire: slow and molecular but permanent. It crawls across the picture vertically, eating up whatever it can and spitting out a different picture on the other end.

No, not a picture—a blank, white post card.

"It just...It just started doing that a few minutes ago," Brannon says more to himself than anyone in particular. His wide, confused eyes reveal that it's the first time something so drastic has happened. "I don't..."

Leo, his heart beating too fast and too hard, steps closer. Male, intelligent, once had a good heart. He reaches for it.

"No, Leo! Don't!" Chase says.

"It's not going to make any difference," Leo says, though it feels like it's more to himself than to his brother. With his breath abated, he picks up the card.

The change quickens slightly, but he convinces himself it's just his imagination. He turns it over to see if it's only a card, but soon enough he finds the tail end of a message. Behind, he sees a seal in red.

"Does it say something?" Adam asks, coming closer.

Leo, with Adam then Skylar standing by him, waits until the message finishes. Once it's done, his heart stills.

 _Nice try, Heroes,_ it says.

"No," Adam says.

"What?" Chase says, pushing his way into the tighter circle.

Adam takes the card and shows it to his brother.

Horrified, Chase takes it. He rereads it over and over, but no matter what he does the reality doesn't change.

"What happened?" Bree asks, the rest of their team and even Brannon coming closer.

"The future," Chase says. He looks at Titan Red in defeat. "The villains have won."

"What? No. Let me see that," Kaz says, taking the card from him.

"They will get to me," Chase says. "How can that happen?"

"Look, let's just calm down, okay? We're not sure about anything yet," Titan Red says.

"No, we _are_ sure about it. 'Nice try, Heroes.' That's something that can only come from them!" Chase says.

"I hate to say this, but I think Chase is right." Kaz flips the card to show what's on the back. There they see a symbol in red: a circle, with small, extraterrestrial letters going around the ring. It houses the number 7 in the middle, a distinctive dagger going through it.

"That doesn't mean anything," Titan Red says.

"No, it does. Look closer. Something gives it away." Kaz points to the dagger then looks at Oliver, Skylar then Titan Red. "Whose symbol is this?"

It takes them a moment. Then, the frown on Skylar's face clears. "That's Corvus Black's," she says.

It feels as if someone has rammed a steel fist into Leo's chest. Unknowingly, he takes a step back.

Male, intelligent, and once had a good heart.

Now Chuck.

Why does it feel like he would be involved in this, like he can't escape from it?

"It's everywhere now," Brannon announces. Turning, the group sees the holographic files in his communicator spread out in front of him, and one by one they blink out, only to be replaced by the same symbol.

"There's seven of them," Oliver notes.

"We have to prepare for _seven_ villains?" Bree exclaims.

Leo's mind worked too quickly before he can stop it.

Seven.

Chuck.

The Doctor.

Amai.

Seo Woo.

Nisha.

Vanessa.

Will Chase be the seventh? Is that why they all chose to befriend him? Because he could give them access to his brother?

Somewhere deep in him, he knows it's not true, but he doesn't want to face the more possible truth: that they're really his friends. That they've been feeling like home because they will be his brother's new home.

Worse: that there will never, ever be a version of this whole ordeal where he would tell his family that he knows who they have to prepare for because he really does hope that the future will land in his friends' hands.

He glances at Chase and thinks for one twisted minute that his brother might be safer with the villains than he is here with Titan Red.

"Come on, Naomi," Leo whispers to his sister as the room descends into a torrent of fear and dread. "Let's go back outside."

He leaves with his sister and doesn't look back.

Little does he know that his action has caught the eye of the person Chuck has warned him to avoid.


	15. A Galaxy to Fit Within Your Arms

Chapter Fifteen

 _ **A Galaxy to Fit Within Your Arms**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Leo looks up from the cards on his hands and finds Vanessa watching him closely. He sighs. Is he sure he's okay? "I don't even know," he says, putting down a pair of aces. "I'm tired of thinking."

After the reveal of the message and the symbol three days ago, all he's done is fight off vicious theories and ideas. He thought distancing himself more from the team will help things get better, but it didn't affect it any. He even thinks he's lost some sleep over these worries that, really, he shouldn't have been worrying about.

Between those two things, Skylar leaving, Titan Red roaming freely around their house, the video Vanessa showed him, and Doc's 'You're not human' comment, he doesn't even know which one to think of first.

"It's been rough, huh," Vanessa says, taking a swig of her coffee.

"Yeah. Rough might be an understatement, but yeah."

Vanessa only looks at her cards disinterestedly. She narrows her eyes when she spots something then ends up picking a card from a separate deck. "I thought you'd have your laptop out or something," she comments. "You usually work on your invention while you're here."

Leo glances at his messenger bag, its shape odd and its lean quite sad under the dimmer booth lights. "I dismantled it."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Permanently?"

"Just temporarily." _While I'm here._

"Why?"

Leo puts down a three of diamond. "I'm getting paranoid."

Vanessa's brows draw together, but only in the briefest of seconds. An amused smirk pulls lightly on her peach-glossed lips. "You're worried about Seo Woo stealing your idea?"

 _"_ _No,"_ Leo replies, offended. "By the way, it's your turn now."

"Oh, that's right," Vanessa says. She puts down a four of clubs. "That guy and his personal shrink are staying at your house."

"Wait, what?"

Vanessa blinks, confused. "What do you mean what?"

"You said that Arnold guy is his personal shrink," Leo says, horrified.

Vanessa smirks. "What are you talking about? I said assistant."

"Vanessa."

"Tell me why you're so tired first, then I'll tell you what I said," Vanessa bargains.

Leo glares at her. As he does, he finally notices that something's different with her. Her smoky eye makeup has been replaced by a sharp but simple eyeliner wing (he thinks that what Bree and his mom call it), and she's wearing lip gloss. Gone are the leather jacket and black jeans, too. Now she's wearing what looks like a floral dress, the trims the color of her lips. He stifles a laugh. "Tell me why you look so summery first, then I'll tell you why I'm so tired."

"Nisha and I went to check on something. It was by the mall. We figured we can blend in better with normal people clothes."

"Girl, it's still too cold to just wear a dress."

"Yes, I found that out earlier."

"Did you get weird looks?"

"Oh, yes. From immature teenagers and immature men."

The grin leaves Leo's face. "Did they make you feel uncomfortable?"

Vanessa smiles after hearing the protective edge to his voice. "Not as uncomfortable as I made them."

Leo's eyes widen in horror. "What'd you do?"

"Stop them from looking."

"Vanessa."

"I wasn't too bad."

"Retaliation isn't a good thing."

"So is looking at a woman like she's an object to be inspected."

Leo withdraws. She's right about that. "Everything else went well then?"

Vanessa smirks. "Oh yes. Yes it did."

"Well, that's good." Leo picks up one card, and then places a king of hearts and a jack of clubs down.

Vanessa's eyebrows rise. "Now it's your turn."

"I just took my turn."

"No." She places down a queen of clubs. "It's your turn to tell me why you're so tired."

"I mean, it's not like you guys don't know what's been happening at my house," Leo says.

"Well, we _know_ about Titan Red being there, but that's just about it." Teasingly, Vanessa adds, "Contrary to common belief of superheroes like you, we don't spy on everyone whenever we feel like it."

Leo half-heartedly glares at her. He wants to bring up the bird he's been seeing outside his house, but he knows she will only laugh at the untrue accusation. "I think I'm losing my mind," he mutters, not realizing that he has spoken his thoughts out loud.

"You're losing your mind?"

Leo looks at her in surprise before understanding what happened. If this headache of keeping family and friends separate doesn't end soon, he has a feeling his words will come true. "I think it's just because I'm very worried."

"Is Titan Red giving everyone problems?"

"Well, I mean, besides me and Naomi and probably Skylar, he's cool with everyone else."

"Skylar as in Skylar Storm, right?"

"Right."

"She's suspicious of him?"

"I think so."

"Hm."

Leo chuckles humorlessly. "This is another reason why I left. I was so sick about worrying when the next bad guy will come and how we can be one step ahead of them. I was so sick of it, and yet here I am back to where I started."

Vanessa smirks.

"Now," Leo says, "it's your turn. What is it that you said about Titan Red?"

"I can repeat it, but I don't think it'll help you any."

"It's just one more on top of a mountain pile. Come on. Let's hear it."

Vanessa mulls over it a while, her eyes refocusing back to her cards. She takes a card from the deck, appraises what she has, and then says, "Arnold Coulter is Titan Red's shrink."

"What?"

"I told you it won't help you any."

"Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight: his assistant is a psychiatrist?"

"Yes."

Leo's brows shoot up. "Wha—I mean, _why_ in the _world_ would Wynnford 'Titan Red' Sawyer tug around a psychiatrist and introduce him to people as his assistant?"

"Because his little higher-up friends in the League of Superheroes don't want people to know that he's a sociopath."

"Come on, Vanessa. I know we don't like the guy, but it's not nice to call him names."

Vanessa looks him straight in the eyes. "I'm not calling him names."

The realization comes upon Leo slowly, mostly because his refusal to believe what he's hearing impedes it. But then, when it finally hits him, he gapes at Vanessa and jumps up. "What!" he screams.

"Calm down."

"What do you mean 'calm down'? That dude is sleeping under the same roof as us! What if he decides to hurt us while we're sleeping?!"

"He's not gonna do that."

"And why not?"

"Because Coulter is there," Vanessa says. She folds her cards down towards her then says, "Look, you and your family will be fine. Right now, he sees working with all of you as beneficial to him, so he'll keep his distance. It won't be bad to listen to what Chuck said, though. I know you don't like Titan Red, but it's worth apologizing to him. It'll keep things less complicated."

Leo sighs, plopping down on his seat as heavily as he breathed out. He knows she's right. There was no changing his mind before, but after hearing what he did, he's eager to think of a plan to get into their guest's good graces without making him suspicious. He shakes his head. "If I had known being a normal person would be more work..."

Vanessa smirks. "You would have stayed a superhero?"

"Sadly, Chuck says I can't make it as a villain," Leo says, staring defeated at his cards.

"No. You're way too nice."

"Well, that's at least better. Chuck said it's because I'm clumsy."

"That, too."

Leo sees from what he has and from what's on the table that he has no chance of winning. He brings his cards together then lays them flat on the table as a sign of surrender.

Seeing her win, Vanessa's smirk expands farther.

Leo catches a glimpse of a card before Vanessa gathers them into a pile: red seven of diamonds. Suddenly, he's reminded of the new clue to what the future holds.

 _Nice try, Heroes._

Corvus Black's infamous dagger.

Seven.

A future where the villains will win, a future that everyone in the hangar doesn't know they will control.

Momentarily, Leo wonders where in that scheme he fits. With his complicated connections to everyone involved, will he even make it there at all? "Hey, uh, Vanessa? Can I ask you a big favor?"

"I'm not going to go out there and ask Chuck to make another iced tea for you," Vanessa says.

"No, it's not that," Leo says. "It's, uh, about my brother. If...if one day he happens to end up being here with you—like, all of you—, can you...can you make sure he stays safe?"

Vanessa stops shuffling the deck. She stares at him, searchingly then suspiciously, before asking, "Does he know about the Hangar?"

"No, no! That's not what I meant. By 'here,' I just meant wherever everyone here is," Leo clarifies. "I trust everyone here, even Seo Woo. I just wanted to know if you can keep my brother safe."

"Are you asking us to help them?"

"No, not right now. In the future."

"In the future."

"Yeah. If he ever ends up here with all of you."

Vanessa's brows knit softly, her eyes gently prodding as if guessing what it is that he knows. "Why? What's going to happen in the future?" she asks.

Leo tries to think of possibilities—for him, for his family, for them—but nothing comes across as clear. "To be honest, I don't know," he says.

Vanessa considers that answer for a moment. Eventually, she nods, stacks the card into a neat deck, and then says, "Maybe I _will_ ask Chuck for more drinks." She slides out the booth then leaves.

Leo understands what she means by that: no. Exactly how, he doesn't know. Though he knows Vanessa will never intentionally hurt Chase, it worries him that she's refusing to have an active part in keeping his older brother unscathed when the time comes.

He understands, though. Chase and the rest of their friends and family stand for the people and things those in the Hangar don't agree with oftentimes. Still, he thought he had proven himself loyal enough to earn an extension of mercy for his brother.

"It's not what you think."

Leo turns around and sees Amai rocking gently back and forth in her booth, her fingers laced onto one another as she stares at her chessboard. "I'm sorry, Amai, what did you say?"

"It's not what you think."

Intrigued, Leo joins her at her booth where the mini orchids are flourishing. "What is it that's not what I think?"

"She doesn't mean no."

 _She?_ "You mean Vanessa?"

Amai nods, her eyes still on the pieces.

"She doesn't mean no...to what I asked?"

Amai nods again. "The future," she says, "it's different."

A frown comes onto Leo's face. "How is it different?"

"It's not what you think."

Leo blinks, failing to decipher what she meant. "In what way? Can you tell me more?"

There's a fleeting pause in her rocking, a slight moment of hesitation that Leo barely catches. She steals a glance at him after a moment then shakes her head.

Leo nods. Vanessa's instructed him once to never excessively prod, so he doesn't.

He shifts to leave the booth when Amai says, "Do you like her?"

The frown comes back to his face. "Her... You mean Vanessa?"

"The girl, from a different star."

It only takes him a second to realize who she means. "You mean Skylar Storm?"

Amai nods.

Leo doesn't realize that a warm smile came to his face at the thought of Skylar. "Why? You don't like her?"

Amai says nothing.

Does he like her? Well, he definitely enjoys spending time with her. He likes the idea of constantly being with her. "I guess I do," he admits, more to himself than Amai. He sighs softly. "But, I know it's not going to work out."

"She's a different galaxy," Amai agrees.

"Yeah. Caldera's really far."

"She doesn't fit within your arms."

Leo's brows knit. "Come again?"

"Each woman is a galaxy. You have to be with the one who will fit within your arms."

Oddly enough, Leo understands. Still, he doesn't know if he can accept it. "She's out of my league, is that it?" he asks, a defeated smile tugging on his lips.

"No," Amai says.

"Then..."

"The probability is very low."

"Why?"

"The future."

Leo wonders at that moment if Amai explicitly knew about Skylar's decision to leave Earth and about the new indication that appeared. Did Vanessa lie to him about not spying on them? Or is it just Amai's ability leading her to conclude these things accurately?

"If it helps," a gravelly voice behind Leo startles him, "I don't understand the things she says most of the time either."

Leo's heart hammers madly against his chest as he looks at Doc, sitting at the dark booth next to the one he and Amai occupy. "You scared me, Doc!" he says. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"Since this morning."

"Doc—"

"I was waiting for you. I wanted to find the best time."

"i've been here for nearly two hours."

"Yeah, but it isn't the best time." Doc scoots to the end of the booth to get a clearer view of Leo, and then smiles. "I have a few things for you."

Leo narrows his eyes at him.

"They're gifts, they're gifts!" the scientist insists, the smile on his face growing into a grin. "Corvus says I scare you, and they say I shouldn't do that anymore. So I brought things for you, so you won't be scared of me."

"I mean, I'm not scared of you..." Leo shifts in his seat, "but you do freak me out. It's not that you can blame me. You did—"

"I know, I know. Unethical, unethical. Especially for a man of science like me." Doc digs into the right pocket of his lab coat then grabs Leo's right hand. Depositing a handful of neatly wrapped candies, he tells the teenager, "It's my gift. You like candies, right? You've assimilated into human surroundings, so you must like the same things older adolescents might enjoy, things that can rot your teeth."

Honestly, Leo would have been suspicious if not that dig at his generation at the end. Doc _does_ have a somewhat crazy look in his eyes, but when has he ever not have it? "Are these for real?" he asks.

"Yes, yes. They are 'for real,'" Doc says, chuckling after adding the air quotes. "Open one, open one! I made them especially for you. I made one to taste like the drink Corvus makes for you that you like so much."

Leo stares at the one he's unwrapped. "I'm not gonna explode after I eat this, right?"

Doc fervently shakes his head. "No. No explosion."

Leo nods. "Okay," he says. He hesitates for a bit, examines the mostly clear, yellowish candy against the light first. Then, he pops it in his mouth.

"How is it?" Doc says.

Leo rolls the sweets around his tongue to gauge the taste. He definitely picks up a table sugar taste and maybe a bit of agave nectar. There's a very, very faint hint of ginger. His tongue feels prickly and a little numb, but he suspects it may be the peppermint that his palette is picking up.

"Doc?" calls Vanessa. The two men find her standing near the booth, two freshly refilled mugs in her hand and a suspicious stare in her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Doc gave me candy," Leo says.

"Candy?" The frown on Vanessa's face clears almost immediately. "Spit it out," she commands Leo.

"What?"

"Spit it out, _now."_

Leo frowns as Vanessa hurries from their table back to Amai's with a napkin in her hand. Though confused, he does what he's told and spits the candy into it.

"Amai," Vanessa tells the tactician softly. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"It won't hurt him," Amai says indifferently.

"Still."

"What's the big deal?" Leo asks. "It's just candy."

Vanessa glares at Doc. "No, it's not," she says. "He did the same thing to Nisha when we first met her. He almost killed her."

"At least we found out that she's not who she said she is," Doc hisses.

"Who cares what she is, Doc? You can't go around testing on people!"

"Wait, he _what?"_ Leo exclaims as he gapes at the scientist.

Doc sneers.

"And what would this...thing that I've been eating done to me if I was what you thought I was?"

Doc looks away.

"If you keep this up, Chuck's going to kick you out again," Vanessa warns.

"He can't kick me out!" Doc replies petulantly.

"Oh, yes I can," Chuck singsongs from the other room.

Doc scowls.

"And if you try this again, if you come near Leo again, you'll also have to go against me," Vanessa threatens. "You don't want what happened last time to happen again, do you?"

Doc rolls his eyes. Soon, he brashly digs into his lab coat pocket, the left side this time, and then slams the small, dark green glass bottle on the table.

"What is this, straight up poison?" Leo asks sardonically.

Doc darts a glare at Vanessa then says, "Get her to tell the truth."

Leo glances at Vanessa. "What do you mean?"

"Not her, _impostor._ The woman that took you in," Doc says, annoyed.

"And what truth is it that you're talking about now?"

"Whether you are hers or not."

Leo freezes at that. Suddenly, he remembers the dinner when he asks his mother that question and she became a little guarded and defensive.

"Two drops is enough to make a human tell nothing but the truth for a couple of hours," Doc tells him. He smiles superciliously. "It's sweet. It's not harmful for humans. Especially not for non-humans. You can mix it in their food, and nobody would know the difference."

It doesn't make Leo feel any better that he doesn't see the malicious, indifferent, scheming glint in the scientist's eyes that he always sees there. "It's wrong," he tells him, though it felt like more to himself than to him.

"You're not like us, and you know that," Doc says. "Just like we do, you want to find out the truth, too."

"The truth is that my mom is my mom and I'm human."

"Then why are you so afraid of it?" Doc says, talking about the vial. "If it is the truth, then that's the only thing that will come out, the only thing that will come out. But...I think you feel that there might be a different answer."

Vanessa crosses her arms. At her glare, Doc scuttles away, a content smile on his face.

All of those, however, are lost on Leo as he stares indecisively at the bottle. Logic upon logic jumbles in his head. On the one hand, Doc _did_ try to experiment on him again. If Vanessa hadn't come, who knows what could have happened to him?

But on the other hand, he worried about the candy affecting him, a candy that seems to only affect non-normal humans . _Maybe..._ he dares to wonder. _What if he's right?_

"Just throw it in the trash," Vanessa advices sympathetically.

"Do you think he's right?" Leo looks up at her. "Do you think my mom could have lied to me?"

"You can't trust Doc with things like that."

Leo doesn't miss her prolonged pause before she said that. "You hesitated. You do think she might be lying."

"Leo."

His phone vibrates for the second time. He takes it out of his pocket then sees a message from his stepfather: _Come home. Something came up, we need you back home._ He pockets the phone once again and then grabs the bottle, too.

"Come on. Don't just leave because of that," Vanessa says.

"No. It's – it's my stepdad," Leo says, on his way out the room.

"Did something happen again?"

"I don't know." Leo sighs. It seems to be the most appropriate response nowadays to the biggest questions in his life: what's the truth? Why can he do things others can't? How can he protect his family from their murderous guest? What is it about the future that will drive Skylar and him apart? "I don't know," he repeats.

Then, he leaves—back to the bleak daylight above, back to bleaker reality at home.


	16. The Riddle

Chapter Sixteen

 _ **The Riddle**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

Leo has turned this whole "superheroes' meeting" into a multiple-choice question: Leo Dooley is dying of boredom. What is causing it?

a) Titan Red's current 20—no— _30_ -minute discourse on what it means to be a hero

b) sitting in the back of the room on hard, backless plastic chairs with nothing to do but listen

c) nothing of what's happening right now concerns him

d) the whole thing's been dragging for over an hour

e) all of the above

He doesn't even understand why his stepfather insisted on dragging him to this. He's not a hero (as he's been pointing out to nearly _everybody_ these past few weeks), and while he wants his family and friends to be safe, he just doesn't care about this part of it. Why does he need to know their plans? He's not going to be there. He doesn't _want_ to be there.

And, again, if they're going to include him, does he really have to be in the back where nearly no one can see him?

If they hadn't been locked in there ("Because everything is top secret, and no one can know whatever it is that we'll talk about in here"), he would have snuck out a long time ago.

He has so many things to do outside. Prototype M of X-043 just needs to be assembled before it's ready for testing. Naomi and his mother are outside. He'd rather be sitting by the pool with them. He's also got homework to do.

Plus, there's that truth serum Doc made sitting in his room.

 _What do I do with that?_ He can't bring himself to plan using it the way Doc suggests. If he forces the truth out of his mother, he will lose her trust. Not only her, he'll lose his trust on himself. And if he puts something in her food, won't that make him like Doc?

He shudders a little at that thought, him becoming a mini version of that deranged scientist.

Still, that Doc's rude, crazy, callous to consequences, and strange don't mean that he's wrong with his assumptions.

The way his mother responded that evening they had dinner. He's tried to replay it, reconstruct, deconstruct, then reconstruct it again to convince himself that nothing warrants his misgivings, but he finds nothing solid to reassure him. He's absolutely sure that he's human and the truth about himself is as he's known it for the past twenty years, but after Vanessa, Doc, and Hangar 72, he doesn't know anymore.

"Hey," Skylar whispers as she hovers next to the seat next to him. "Hope it's okay that I take this?"

The smile on her face stuns him a little. A ray of sunlight after a good night's sleep. "Yeah," he nods. He smiles. "Yeah, sure."

Skylar sits next to him, and Leo hopes he won't be too clumsy so as to scoot too far and fall out of his seat. "Ugh, this thing is taking too long," she whispers as she watches the group surrounding the table.

"How'd you manage to sneak out of the Trust Circle?" Leo asks.

"Trust Circle?"

"Yeah, you know: 'You're a superhero, I trust you'?" Then, he adds, "Although, with you gone, it's more like a Trust U now."

Skylar grins. "It's a message written amongst themselves."

"Yeah. The catch is, Brannon doesn't actually trust Titan Red, Titan Red only trusts himself, Super Nova doesn't know anyone here 'cause it's her first day, and Coulter and Adam's been bored out of their wits for almost an hour now and probably has stopped caring since."

"So what does that make the Trust Circle now?"

"A hot mess."

Skylar chuckles but quietly. "Well, in that case, maybe it's a good idea that I'm back here in the Not Hot Mess area."

"See, there's another catch: I'm the hottest mess in this room," Leo says. He sighs. "I've been trying to think of ways to get out of here. I'm bored. I'm not even beyond crawling out through a vent at this point."

"Why don't you just tell Mr. Davenport you want out?"

"Because he says I have an important role to play."

"Which is?"

Leo shrugs.

"Maybe he wants to see how we can use the things you've been inventing."

Leo's heart squeezes uncomfortably. "Please. No. I hope not," he says.

"Oh, that's right," she says when she remembers. "Okay. Your secret is still safe with me."

Leo smiles back. "Thanks."

Skylar nods. She looks at the group still huddled around the long cyberdesk. "Maybe Mr. Davenport will ask you to help out with surveillance?" Leo rolls his eyes. "Ugh, no. I'll quit now if that's the case. When we ran missions before, I was always the tech guy chained to the desk. No. Uh-uh. I quit already."

"Even if it's to keep your brother safe?"

"Look, to be honest, Chase doesn't need me. He's never needed me to keep him safe. All he needs is Mr. Davenport and Adam and Bree. Plus, nothing will happen to him."

"Nothing will happen to him? How'd you know that?"

"Because he'll be part of the seven."

Leo only realizes what it is that he's hinted at through the confusion that comes to Skylar's eyes. "Leo, what do you know that we don't?" she asks carefully.

"Um, well..."

"Have you figured out what that message means?"

 _Oh, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad!_ "I—"

"Leo. Skylar," Chase suddenly calls them. "What's going on?"

It makes Leo more nervous when he finds everyone in the room staring: his siblings, his stepdad, Kaz. Even Titan Red, Coulter, and Super Nova have taken more interest in the two of them, which isn't good at all considering Chuck's advice of staying as invisible to them as possible.

However, what unnerves him slightly more than others is the look in Oliver's eyes. He's staring at him and Skylar again with that same dissatisfaction as he did so many days ago, but now there's resentment there. There's resentment and fury and bitter jealousy.

These seem to be lost on Skylar, though. She's only staring at him patiently albeit unhappily, waiting for his response.

"Well, I...I just – I just thought it was a possibility," he tells her.

"What's a possibility?" Donald asks.

Leo clams up again. What does he say?

"Leo's figured out what the message means," Skylar answers for him.

"Which message?" Kaz asks. "The one with the seven?"

While Leo can honestly say now that he likes the Calderan, he has to admit: her telling everyone what she told them turned him off just a tad bit. "It's just speculation," he says.

His stepfather shrugs. "All right. Let's hear it."

"I..." _What? What do I say now?_ He sits up slowly to stall. "I think I know who the seven might be."

"You do?"

"Yeah," he answers his sister, but then he draws a blank. It's out in the open now that he knows _something,_ but it's not like he can share the truth with them. He doesn't want to. Friends separate from family.

But then, what does he tell them?

"We're waiting," Super Nova reminds him.

"I...I think Chase..." _Here it goes..._ "I think Chase will be part of the seven."

That seems to shock and terrify everyone. "Are you saying they'll succeed in taking him?" Adam exclaims.

 _Yes, they will—but you can't know that._ Leo shakes his head as a response to his brother. "I think the seven is the Elite Force plus Adam and Daniel," he misleads them.

"This seven will have control over the future," Brannon points out. "Are you saying that the heroes will actually have it?"

Leo nods – another lie.

Brannon scoffs. "Hey. If you haven't heard, this 'Seven' has tampered with all the files I brought from the future. In the future, they're reigning, and they're sealing more and more information from me as we speak," he says, his tone dripping with derision. "You've got a brain, don't you? Does it really make sense for heroes to seal the records I brought to help change the future for the better?"

At that insult, Donald darts a deathly glare at their guest. Adam and Bree don't particularly look happy about it either. Chase, meanwhile, has just started to regain the color that drained from his face.

"You don't need to go that far, Parallel," Skylar tells him. "He said it was a hunch. If we look at it that way, it can make sense."

"Well, it doesn't to me," Brannon says. Leo notes how he's more agitated today than he's been since he came.

"All right, everyone. Let's calm down," Titan Red asks.

"Calm down? I've been stuck in this stupid, primitive century for nearly three months! I'm sick and tired of just sitting here either waiting or just warding off attacks!" Brannon suddenly whips towards Leo, and screams, "If your dumb theory is right, then why am I still here? Huh? If The Balance really does remain on the good side, I should've been gone by now! My mission would have been completed, and they would have sent someone to take me back!"

"Now you quit yelling at him," Donald commands firmly.

"Gentlemen, please," Titan Red asks again.

"Mr. Brannon, you don't look too well," Coulter notes. "Maybe you should just sit the rest of the meeting out."

Brannon laughs bitterly. "Oh, now _I_ get kicked out? _I_ get kicked out while that no-good _imbecile_ is invited in?"

Donald swats the time traveler's hand away, the one that points derogatorily towards Leo.

Chase quickly steps in front of his father to stop him from doing anything else, while Kaz, who's closer to Brannon, stops the other one as well.

Feeling the rising tension in the room, Leo stands up and tells Brannon, "Look, I was wrong, okay? I'm sorry. I won't say anything again. I'll stay away from this mission if that's what you want."

"No," Titan Red says, arms crossed. Leo feels uncomfortable as the seasoned superhero appraises him. His calculating stare pierces straight through him as if no thought or secret of his is private. It softens a little as he smiles, but Leo knows the facial expression doesn't change his harmful scheme. "Actually, I was the one who asked Mr. Davenport to bring you in. We have to drag you back into the world of missions, Leo. We need your expertise, even just this once."

 _Be careful,_ Leo can almost hear Chuck warning him. He shakes his head. "I decline," he says. _Stay under the radar._ "I'm done with the desk work. If you need someone to do it for you, I'm sure there's someone in the superhero world who can do it better than I can."

"Leo." Chase chuckles, but it's out of hurt. "You don't want to help? Even when it's for me?"

"You're my brother, Chase. How I care about you won't change," he says. "But you don't need me."

"That's not true."

"Really?" Leo smiles at him sadly. "Then how come you didn't stop me from leaving? When I told Douglas I wanted my abilities off, you didn't even call. Actually, you've never even asked me once why."

"We were busy, Leo," Chase reasons in guilt. "I can't...We just didn't have time."

Leo nods, smiling sadly to himself. _That's what I thought._ "What I said stands: I care about you, but the truth is that you don't need me," he says. Then, he leaves.

"I didn't mean desk work."

Leo stops at what Titan Red says.

When the teenager turns around, Titan Red says, "We need to go rescue a superhero who can help us unlock the files on Parallel's device. The lair he's held hostage in is up a mountain, one that's rigged with all sorts of booby traps. All of us in this room will be going – minus Arnold, of course. I wanted you to go up with us."

Leo halfheartedly darts a deadpan look at him. "I don't want to be your mine dog either."

"No. You're not going to be there as a mine dog." Super Nova crosses her arms and pulls up to her full height. "I need you to go with me. We've heard that you're pretty quick when it comes to thinking on your feet. I need that and your knowledge of technology since I've been away from Earth for a while and have lost touch on how things work."

"You two will follow after the first advance team, which is Chase, Oliver, and me," Titan Red says. "Parallel, Adam, and the girls will bring up the rear since they can move quickly in the case that someone comes to attack us from behind."

It's tempting, but Leo can't help but think that there's a catch somewhere. Titan Red is good at this game of pretense, but he doubts the superhero would get into his role so much that he'd forget that time he embarrassed him in front of everyone. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, but the answer is still no," he replies tactfully. He shrugs to add some lightness in his rejection. "I have no bionics. I'd just be a liability."

"We can always turn it back on," his stepfather suggests.

"No. I don't want it." He throws a meaningful glance at Oliver and says, "I've already hung my cape, as someone has pointed out." Then, he turns to leave.

"If you can't do it for your stepbrother," Titan Red calls, "then maybe you should do it for your mom and Naomi."

Leo stills at that. He turns around to look at Titan Red. His features are neutral, perhaps even with a hint of concern, and he knows that to others it probably means nothing.

But to him, it doesn't mean nothing. He knows him, knows things about him that no one else besides Coulter knows. And as the older superhero can see through him, Leo can also read deep into him, too.

His eyes, they tell enough. In those faint blue irises Leo sees darkness, viciousness, and a violent refusal to hear another no. "Are you threatening me?" Leo asks.

Titan Red looks at those who glance at him then chuckles. "What? Why would I do that? I'm just trying to bring out a point to you here."

Leo would have believed that as the others did if not for the nervous expression that softly clouds Coulter's face.

"Look, Leo, we're all heroes here," Titan Red continues. "To you it might seem like you're not one anymore, but it's clear that to your family, you still are."

"The good you've done for us and for others aren't forgotten, Leo," Bree says with a sad smile. "We'll always remember them."

"See?" Titan Red says, smiling. "Look, when I mentioned your mom and Naomi, I just meant that if we don't resolve this soon, they'll be affected, too. People can be so unreasonable when it comes to control and power, and we don't want anyone innocent to get hurt because of that, do we?"

Leo knows exactly what he means: _do as I say or I'll make your nightmares about me hurting your sister come true._

All of a sudden, he feels as small and worthless as he felt when Marcus threatened him. He doesn't want to go along with his plan because his gut is telling him that there's a trap set especially for him somewhere, but at the same time, he doesn't want to agitate Titan Red any more and finally provoke him into hurting someone in his family.

Anger washes over him. Why didn't he just listen to Chuck and Vanessa? And how can he always be so powerless?

A soft, reassuring graze against his hand surprises him. Turning, he finds Skylar standing beside him, her eyes that brimmed with concern focused only on him. Through her gaze, she communicates that she's aware of Titan Red's true meaning also, and through a subtle nod she urges him to just go along with everything because she has his back.

At that moment, it feels as if a considerable weight has been lifted off his shoulders. She's right; he's not alone. He has her and Vanessa, Chuck and Amai, Nisha and Seo Woo. This time, there are people who believe him and who are on his side. "When do we leave?" Leo asks.

Titan Red smirks as the rest break out into grins and small cheers. "In three days," he says.

Leo turns his eyes towards Skylar and then gives her a small smile and a nod.

Skylar understands. She nods back a _You're welcome_ and smiles.

A sharp gasp suddenly punctures the peace in the room.

"Parallel?" Kaz says, holding onto the time traveler as the man staggers on his feet, his hand clasped at his chest. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Brannon continues to stagger back and to breathe in gasps. "I—" Then he screams in pain as he collapses.

"What's happening?" Oliver asks as he rounds the table.

"I don't know," Kaz says, holding onto Brannon.

As he and Skylar come closer, Leo sees that Brannon is so wrought in pain that his eyes and jaws are clenched so tightly. His body is rigid, locked into that agonized position.

"Is he having a heart attack?" Bree asks, terrified.

"No, no," Kaz says as he and Oliver examine Brannon. "It's something different."

"You don't think he ate something bad earlier, did you?" Adam asks.

"What, like poison?" Donald asks, and it takes a lot of restraint for Leo and Skylar not to look at Titan Red.

"No. If it's poison, we would be seeing something obvious by now," Oliver says.

"Then what do we do?" Bree asks.

"Parallel," Kaz calls to him. "Brannon."

Brannon groans, but that's all the response he gives.

Oliver looks at Donald then Chase. "We may have to take him to the nearest hospital. They have more equipment there, and they'll know better what to do."

"It would've been easier if Mighty Med is still around," Kaz mutters.

"All right," Donald says to the group. "Let's take him there."

The men, particularly Oliver and Adam, move closer to help Brannon up when the time traveler relaxes.

"Whoa," Adam mumbles. "Did he pass out?"

"I don't..."

Brannon opens his eyes. However, his irises are glazed and almost lifeless. It wanders around the room then from face to face until finally, he sees Leo. He stares at him for a moment, as if taking in every detail of his face. His lips part, but instead of the words he want to say, only air comes out.

Adam makes a sound of surprise, and soon they see that it's because Brannon is evaporating from his feet upwards. The transition from flesh to smoke happens gradually, leaving those closest to him speechless.

Leo, though, only holds Brannon's gaze. He's trying to tell him something, but it's obvious that the time traveler has no strength left to form the words.

So he reads how his mouth curves, how his vocal chords seem to bob. _Y..._ , it seems to start. _Y..._ The side of lips subtly twitches forward.

Y.

 _You._

Leo watches petrified as his face evaporates into smoke. However, what surprises him and the rest of those watching is the metal interior that serves as his skull.

Android. Brannon has been an android all along.

As the circle of men around the body quickly withdraws when the metallic skeleton begins to evaporate, too, Leo sees something that puzzles and scares him even more: the logo of Davenport Industries, imprinted by the android's jaw.

The room is silent as the last of the time traveler vanishes. Now the only things left of him are his clothes, something square in the pocket, and his information storage device.

Leo's head swims. He can't be the only one to see that, right? That logo, that truth that it was someone in his family who fooled an android to believe he's a human from the future, changes so many things.

Because if it really is someone in his family who sent the android, how come Brannon doesn't know the identity of The Balance? And that look in Brannon's eyes before he evaporated from existence as he stared at him. What does _he_ have to do with whatever happens? Or, with this new change, whatever changes in the future?

Amai says the future is not what he thinks it is, and now he knows that to be true.


	17. Home

Chapter Seventeen

 _ **Home**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

His foot taps against the floor almost at the same speed as his heartbeat. He knows the movement is creating ripples of nervousness through the concrete floor that pulses through the air, but he can't help it—he's absolutely, positively freaked out right now.

Because indecision and determination seesaw within his brain, he doesn't see the glance of uncertainty Vanessa and Nisha exchange. He doesn't even notice Seo Woo much who, for some reason this early morning, is facing the room instead of his perpetually untouched drink.

"So, okay, let me get this straight," Chuck says, "the time traveler vanished last night?"

Leo nods, almost a little too manic to his liking.

Vanessa softly frowns. "I'm sure it was pretty weird to see, but why does it scare you? He was here to change the future." She shrugs. "It only makes sense it will affect him that way."

Leo's thought about this possibility all night, having to finally rip off the clear line he's set between family and friends. The bags underneath his eyes are deep when he glanced at himself in the mirror before he left the house. He hasn't slept because of this, and now it's here.

Briefly, he wonders if his family is aware yet that he's not home. Better yet, at 5:58 AM, is anyone even awake yet? "It's not _that_ that's scared me out of my wits," he says, "it's the fact that all along, Brannon's been an android, and no one even guessed it."

The raised brows and widened eyes that follow suffice to tell Leo that they didn't expect it either. "I mean, you're not kidding, right?" Vanessa asks, taking the empty seat across him.

"Why would I make it up?"

"Well, okay, an android," Nisha considers aloud. "Strategically, it makes sense. Whoever sent him must know that an android is better to get the deed done rather than a human. Less errors, and should the consequences of the future be, um, you know, if it affects them negatively physically, then a machine can handle it better."

"But he didn't handle it better. He was in so much pain," Leo says, muttering the last bit. The look on Brannon's face—it haunted him all night long. "We thought he was having a heart attack."

"Here, try this," Chuck says, gently sliding a mug of tea towards him. "It should knock down the jitters. Just take your time."

Leo picks it up absently. He takes a sip, fights one last losing battle against a faint instinct, and then places the cup down. In their eyes he sees that, while they're paying close attention, their lids are still somewhat heavy with drowsiness. "I'm sorry," he says. "I didn't mean to wake everyone up. I just wanted to get here as soon as I could."

Chuck gives him a kind smile. "We can always go back to sleep later."

Leo tries to smile back, but only a hint of it comes through. "You said you knew why Titan Red was here," he tells Chuck.

Chuck nods.

"What do you know?"

Chuck frowns, confused. He chuckles then says, "Nothing really of consequence. Just the basics. Why? Has it been making you uncomfortable?"

Leo shakes his head. "It's just that how much you know will tell me how much information I can trust you, and everyone in this room, with."

The silence that ensues afterwards, palpable and wrought with a scent of intrigue and dread, becomes worse than the sound of his foot tapping.

Chuck thinks about the information for a moment then finally decides, "The only thing we knew was that he came because the two ex-doctors in the Elite Force contacted him. Your family's caught the attention of some hard-hitting supervillains, so they needed a veteran superhero. We did know about the time traveler—we didn't know about him being an android—and we knew that he's here because something's gone wrong in the future."

"Obviously," Vanessa adds, smirking teasingly at Leo.

"We knew they were targeting Chase Davenport particularly," Chuck continues. "We listen to our side of the affiliation, too, so we also knew – found out – about that. It's not that hard to guess that he's very important to what's happening. Then again, with that information that was leaked, it's not like the villains need to think much about who to target. The guessing has been done for them, which, in my opinion, is pretty clumsy."

"Wait. Information leak?" Leo asks. "Somebody tipped the villains off about this whole thing?"

Chuck stares at him, puzzled. He laughs. "Well, yeah," he says. "The superheroes don't know that?"

"We know that word got out somehow but the general consensus was that obsessive fans accidentally did it. That, or the villains are just really good at smelling opportunities."

Chuck grins. "No. Like I said, it's pretty clumsy. Somebody in the team did it."

Leo blinks. That's _definitely_ new information. "Who is it?" he asks.

Chuck smirks. Vanessa and Nisha appear amused, too. Leo doesn't even doubt that Seo Woo has the same look. "What I say won't carry any weight," Chuck says. "It's better if you find out yourself."

It annoys him a bit that none of them would tell him, but he realizes that it's not what matters right now. With Titan Red watching his every move and the gut feeling he has that someone else has been following him, he can't waste too much time on less important inquiries.

He takes a deep breath and debates once more how sound of an idea it is to do what he's about to do next. He's taking a risk, but with how much he trusts them, it doesn't even make him feel that anxious. "Brannon came here...because he needed to find somebody." He looks at Vanessa then smiles the smallest of smiles. "That's really why we ended up meeting," he tells her. "They brought this whole thing from Centium City down to Mission Creek. They said it will be safer. Strength in numbers, I guess.

"Anyway, the somebody he needs to find, he's going to be important," Leo continues. "Really, really important. Brannon said this person holds the key to who wins the future: the heroes or the villains."

Vanessa nods in understanding. "So it's generally agreed upon that it's your brother, Chase, who's this somebody."

"It only made sense. Brannon's only clues were male, intelligent, good guy, and lives in this timeline. He's also a Davenport."

"Adam and your cousin Daniel are also Davenports," Nisha brings out.

"I thought his cousin was a Heathrow rather than a Davenport," Chuck asks Nisha.

"He doesn't have to be a Davenport in _name_ , really."

Chuck considers that. Then, he nods as if he finally understands something he's been wondering about. "Oh."

"It's possible, too, that your mom is pregnant with a little Davenport boy."

Leo gapes at Vanessa. _I haven't even thought about that!_ "Oh, please, no," he says, horrified.

Vanessa shrugs. "Do you think she could be?"

"I hope not." Leo thinks and thinks and thinks, and it comforts him that out of Brannon's weeks-long stay in their timeline, no indication confirms that theory. He breathes in relief. "She's probably not."

"Well, if that's the case..."

The small relief brought about by that conclusion goes away soon after. "Everyone thinks that what happened to Brannon is a good thing," he tells them. "Adam and Kaz think that, and Big—I mean, my stepdad is starting to buy the idea, too. Bree's skeptic about it, and so is Chase."

"And what do you think about it?"

"I don't think it's a good thing," Leo tells Vanessa. "Whoever sent Brannon must have made a mistake about the identity of this 'Balance.'"

"Balance."

" _The_ Balance, actually, which is a bit too extra in my opinion, but whatever."

"You said they made a mistake?" Nisha says.

Leo nods. "I didn't tell anyone in my family or the Elite Force, but Brannon has been made by someone connected to Davenport Industries."

"Someone in your family made and sent him?" Nisha asks.

Leo nods again. "I thought, if Brannon didn't know who it is exactly that he's supposed to protect, and if it's someone from our family who sent him, then that means the choice they made that led to their future was wrong."

"They chose to protect the wrong person," Chuck says.

Leo nods.

"You think they could've chosen Chase and turned out wrong about it?"

Leo has been avoiding that question all night but now that it's finally out in the open, he can't ignore it anymore. "That's a possibility," he says. "But come on, it only makes sense that it's him! I love Adam, and in the past few years he's starting to make better decisions, but in general he's still as he was in high school. Brannon's programmer or engineer or whatever specifically stated intelligent. With that he only qualifies three out of the four." He rethinks it. "Okay, maybe two-and-a-half out of four."

"But if they were wrong for not choosing Chase, then they would've told the time traveler about it directly," Nisha points out. Chuck nods. Nisha smiles sadly and asks, "Leo, have you considered the possibility that maybe those in the future knew it's not Chase and doesn't know who it could really be?"

"I have, but..." He sits up, anxious. "There's no one else who fits the profile."

Glances are exchanged between the four. "Uh, you do," Nisha says, smirking.

Leo scoffs. "Please. As... _interesting_ as that could be, that will never happen. It has never happened." He bites his lip as he realizes of something. "I have a feeling that I, the future me, helped in some way to send Brannon here."

"Why?"

"Because a few years ago, a future version of myself went back in time to save my siblings," Leo tells Nisha. "That future me helped my future stepdad...who I don't think exists anymore...build a time machine. I know this all sounds crazy but it's true."

Leo sighs. "But, really, what's more important than all of this is that before Brannon vanished, the future started changing."

"I know you probably won't want to hear this from me, Leo," Chuck cuts in, "but in that case I really do hope you won't have anything to do with what's gonna happen from this point forward."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm seeing a pretty terrible pattern here," Chuck says. "I'm not judging, but how come throughout all the points in time – the past, the present, and the future – you're always supporting your siblings?"

"Well, they're my family."

Chuck's brows rise – one of the few instances he's witnessed since they met. "Oh yeah? How come I never hear about them supporting you?"

Leo has to admit that that felt like reality slapping him hard on the face. He avoids their gaze, only looks at the table. "Sometimes you have to do things for the people you love, even if you don't want to," he mumbles.

"This whole thing is getting dangerous so this is just my advice as an outsider and hopefully as someone you consider an ally," Chuck says, sadly smiling, "stay away from this. There is nothing you can do about everything that's happening, and it's unfair for you to get dragged back into a life you've left behind. It's time for your siblings and their friends to fail or succeed on their own. You can't be their training wheel forever. You've still got your own life to manage."

Leo sighs. It angers him a little bit to be confronted like this and to hear this vague slight towards his siblings, but he can't deny it's true. He knows that eventually he has to choose which direction he should go, too. After all, how he feels about this whole ordeal has stayed the same throughout the many weeks.

He's still so sick and tired of it.

"I came here because I have one last thing to do," he says. He draws the message card he took from Brannon's clothes and places it on the table. The red symbol is deeper and vibrant under the hangar's fluorescent lights. "I'm here to ask a favor," he says, sliding it towards Vanessa.

"What is it?" Nisha asks.

"The future has changed, and it depends now on them," Leo answers, nodding at the _7._

"'Nice try, Heroes'?" Vanessa reads from the card. "The villains are going to win?"

"You told me once that everyone here are more like anti-heroes."

There's a pause.

Then, Nisha gapes. "Are you saying _we_ will control the future?"

Leo nods, feeling guiltier by the second that he's shared these clues to his friends rather than his family.

"How'd you know that?" Nisha asks.

"It's my symbol." Chuck kindly takes the card from Vanessa then stares at the circle. He points at the dagger. "This one, this used to be mine."

"That's why I came here so early. This is the only time I can do this. Titan Red's been threatening me with my mom and my sister, and—"

"Wait. He's been threatening you?" Vanessa asks defensively.

Leo nods. "He wants me to do what he tells me to, or else he'll hurt them. I don't want to do it, but I have to."

"And what is it exactly that he wants you to do?" Chuck asks.

"Something about saving a hero trapped up a mountain or something," Leo says. "But that's not the point. I'm running out of time, and I really have to get out of here soon. I came because I wanted to ask all of you to keep Chase or whoever this 'Balance' is safe. Please. You have to protect my brother whatever happens."

Vanessa's brows rise. "You really do want us to go out there and protect him."

"No. You don't have to go out. He's going to be coming here."

"What?!"

"No, no!" Leo frantically waves away the panic that he sees on their faces. "Not right now. I just meant that I have a plan in—"

A loud _thud!_ coming from above surprises all of them into silence. Already on guard, Seo Woo hurries over to the bar then slides open a cabinet. The frown on his face clears. "League Agents," he tells them, glaring at Leo.

Vanessa springs up from her seat. "You really _did_ bring them here!"

"No! No, it's not—"

The walls vibrate upon the deafening _boom!_ that rings from above.

"I trusted you!" Vanessa yells at Leo over the sound of heavy footsteps and someone barking orders. "How could you do this to me?"

"I promise, Vanessa, I didn't set you up!" Leo pleads. He looks at the stairway as the thunderous rhythm of running comes closer. "Please trust me. I won't do this to you."

Seo Woo pulls him with them as he makes his way to Nisha, Chuck, and Vanessa – all of whom have retreated into the other room.

Leo's mind raced. He knew it. He _knew_ someone had been following him. _But I was so careful this morning._

"Nisha, get us out of here," Chuck instructs.

Nisha nods. She balls her fists and waits with a hammering heart as things purple and bright build within it. When they're complete, she throws them with force, one against the wall then one towards the floor.

Upon contact, the marble-sized meteorites tear into the concretes and into the very fabric of space. The one on the ground drops to somewhere dark, a place where the salt of the ocean wafts through, and the one on the wall opens into a dingy room where boxes upon boxes stand at a distance.

"I'll hold them back."

"Vanessa, don't!"

"Let her go," Chuck tells Leo, anchoring him in place as they watch the girl vanish through the tunnel.

"Seo Woo, please go," Nisha tells the omniligual.

Seo Woo shakes his head. " _Andwaeyo._ "

"You can't stay here with us. We need you."

Seo Woo shakes his head.

"Seo Woo—"

" _No."_

Nisha sighs. "Okay." She turns towards Leo.

Leo shakes his head. "It was my fault that they found the hangar. I can't just leave."

The ground beneath them shudders. Startled screams ring from outside following that.

Chuck tries to remain steady on his feet. "Vanessa can only hold them away for so long," he tells Seo Woo and Nisha.

Nisha then looks at Leo with a sadness that he can only read as disappointment. "It _is_ your fault that they found us," she says. "That's why you can't be with us anymore." She grabs his hand.

"No, Nisha! Don't—"

She pulls him then pushes him into the hole on floor.

Any protests Leo has dies as he falls into darkness. All too soon, his whole body punctures through a surface of deep water, the bubbles and the opposing forces created by the sudden contact becoming layers of cushion that slows his fall. Sounds are muted, and the bridge from his nose to his forehead aches with a line of hot and sharp pain that worsens by the second.

He struggles against the gravity of the water and swims in a panic upwards. He paddles his feet as he pushes his hands down in a hurry. Sooner than he expected, he breaks through the surface.

His gasp then coughing bellows in the stillness. He searches around, terrified. It takes him a moment before realizing that he's in a swimming pool. Operating on autopilot, he makes his way towards the edge, paddling and coughing at the same time.

He struggles to pull himself up (he thinks he swallowed too much water), but thankfully, a hand comes to his aid.

He rolls into the grass then lies there, expelling the last of the pool as he tries to identify the face looming over him.

"Can you grab a towel?" the person asks someone. There's a distinctive sliding sound then a minute click. The person looks back at Leo, and...it's Chase. "Hey, are you okay?" He helps him sit up. "Goodness, Leo – you're shaking."

"I'm okay. I'm okay," Leo says unconvincingly.

Adam smirks. "A little too early for a swim, ain't it?" he asks.

Chase glares at him. It's not long until Bree comes back with the thickest towels they have. Both of them wrap it around their younger brother, Chase saying, "What are you even doing out here? It's so cold."

"Yeah, I thought you were inside the house," Bree adds.

"I was home." Leo clutches the towel closer to him as his insides turn to ice. What's happening now to Chuck, Seo Woo, Nisha, and Vanessa? Are they safe? Is Vanessa okay? That explosion. He knows whoever caused that will destroy Hangar 72, the place he's come to find a warm shelter in.

His friends. While he's safe here, what will happen to his friends?

 _My friend once told me that friends should also feel like home,_ Vanessa once told him.

"I was home," he mutters, knowing that from this point on he can never, ever come back to them.


	18. Stranger Danger

Chapter Eighteen

 _ **Stranger Danger**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _"_ _...do you copy?"_

Leo grabs a dead but firmly rooted vine, heaves a breath— _in then hold_ —then pulls himself up. He staggers into the snowier terrain above as he lands momentarily on uneven footing. At that moment, he's annoyed that he's lost all the skills he's learned at the academy in just a couple of years' time.

 _"_ _Is he..."_

He absolutely dislikes this mission. He doesn't like it, he doesn't like it, he doesn't like it. Titan Red may have convinced the team otherwise, but he knows: dragging him there is his way of tightening his leash on him.

 _"_ _...Nova,...you?"_

A soft but firm slap on his arm wakes Leo to the presence of the older heroine traveling with him. "Hey," she says impatiently, "your brother's been talking to you for the past two minutes. Answer him, yeah? Stop daydreaming."

Leo, though chided, only nods. "Sorry, I zoned out there for a minute," he tells whoever it is that was talking to him over the com set. "What were you asking again?"

 _"_ _Was just trying to see if you were okay,"_ Chase responds.

Leo doesn't miss the worry in his tone. Still, he can't bring himself to lie and tell him that everything is fine and dandy when they aren't. "We're managing over here," he says instead.

There's a short span of silence, a few seconds of hesitation. Then, _"Are you sure you're okay? Like, you've been...kind of..."_

Leo knows what he means.

The answer to his question is no. No, he's not sure. No, he's not okay. How could he be? It's been more than 48 hours since the attack at the Hangar, and _no one_ has contacted him yet. He snuck out a couple of times to call Vanessa then Chuck then Nisha through a payphone in a pretty dangerous neighborhood (still feels like a better option compared to Titan Red and his cohorts spying on him through his cell phone), but he's gotten no reply.

He still can't get what Nisha said off his head. They blamed him, think it was all his fault. She said he can never come back. He wants to tell them that it's all a mistake. It's all just a big misunderstanding. When he asked for Chase's safety, he didn't mean to protect his brother when he comes in with the League Agents (which he didn't).

He just wanted to ask them to keep his brother safe. To be honest, he was one step short of practically begging them to just take his brother and become the great seven that will keep the order between good and bad.

But now, because he was a little too late, everything has fallen apart. His friends are all missing, their safety in question, and he's stuck here in this meaningless mission.

 _"_ _Clear on the west side,"_ Bree says.

 _"_ _Leo?"_ Chase calls to him again, a reminder of his question.

"I hate it here, Chase. I don't see why I'm even here," Leo tells him honestly. Super Nova is walking behind him but he can feel the glare she's probably shooting his way.

 _"_ _I see."_

 _"_ _Look, let's just stay positive, okay?"_ Titan Red says, his tone as encouraging as a dentist talking about the benefits of a root canal without anesthetics. _"Leo, as we said, we need you here because you can think quickly. But how can we use that talent if you're not paying attention?"_

 _I want you to know that I'm rolling my eyes at you right now, Wynnford,_ Leo thinks but doesn't say.

Adam chuckles. _"What's up with you lately, Leo? You've been super moody, and you keep dodging us,"_ he brings out. _"You've also been weird, like – what in the world was that the other day? Jumping into the pool when it's 40-something degrees?"_

Leo hesitates in his movement at that, fully aware now of how many, and who exactly, can hear their conversation.

Adam's tone changes. _"I mean, you're not, like, getting in with the wrong crowd, are you? Like, kids at your college who does, like, you know..._ stuff."

Leo could scream. Not only did Adam manage to put more suspicion on him, he's also managed to insult him.

 _"_ _Guys, can we just focus?"_ Bree asks, notably uncomfortable by what her brother just implied. _"We're literally walking through a minefield here. Let's talk about this at home."_

 _"_ _Bree's right,"_ Kaz agrees; he sounds a bit taken aback, too. _"We have to keep it low. The surveillance will be pretty tight."_

Just when Leo thinks the subject has been retired, Oliver comes back with, _"You really shouldn't get involved with bad people, you know, Leo. They only use you, tell you they're good, and then they just turn their backs on you. You know?"_

Leo stops on his tracks. Does Oliver know something? His jaw locks and unlocks at the thought. Is he the one who called the League on his friends?

Skylar's soft, falsely bitter chuckle rings through the com. _"I didn't think you consider me bad company now, Oliver,"_ she says. _"West side still clear."_

 _She's protecting me._ Leo can't help but grin. _I love this girl!_

Shocked, his grin disappears, but a smirk eventually replaces it. He continues walking. _Okay, maybe not_ love _yet_ , _but I do like her._

 _"_ _I'm not talking about you,"_ Oliver tells Skylar quietly an awkward lapse later.

"Wow, man. I didn't even know you care about me this much," Leo says confidently.

 _"_ _I'm not talking to you."_

 _"_ _Guys,"_ Chase warns.

 _"_ _Let's just hurry this up, huh?"_ Kaz adds.

 _"_ _Yeah, let's,"_ Skylar agrees. _"Leo and I have a friend to meet this evening. We'd rather not be late."_

Leo frowns. They do? She never mentioned about this the last they spoke. Is this the same friend from Mighty Med that she's been talking about?

Fed up by the roller coaster of awkward silences and building verbal brawl, Super Nova says, "No disrespect to any of you children, but I'd rather not hear these talks about your personal lives. It's not professional, don't you agree?"

 _"_ _Yes, ma'am."_

 _"_ _Yes."_

 _"_ _I'm sorry."_

 _"_ _Yeah."_

"Good," Super Nova says. She holds down a button on her com set, pulls ahead of Leo, and then stops. "You're slowing me down. You're going to have to follow my lead this time," she says.

Though slightly offended, Leo does as he's told after the superhero continues on their trek.

Super Nova has not been making him suspicious, but lately, that's been changing. Especially now that it's just the two of them, taking what seems to be the long away to this lair surrounded by miles and miles of sleeping forestry and of the white nothingness that is the winter-covered landscape, he feels more of the need to keep an eye on her, too.

He knows it's unreasonable, and it probably is. Super Nova, or Dina Prather, is a 56 year-old woman who has been an active superhero for the past 40 years of her life. She seems to have a squeaky clean record. She has a family – a husband of 32 years and an adult child whose name is never mentioned – plus a dynamic but mostly quiet life.

She's cool, level-headed, and calculating. She's also very pleasant towards family members of fellow superheroes (Naomi liked her a lot). For some reason, though, she's curt and impatient towards teenagers.

Leo's not too shocked when she acts and speaks abruptly and at times harshly; his grandmother is like that, too. Still, something tells him that she's more aloof to him than she is of the others.

He thinks he's probably wary because it was Titan Red who brought her into the team. Who's to say she's not as deceptive as him? He looks at the superhero navigating smoothly upwards through a mess of trees and roots and watches her for a while.

He shakes his head. He must be losing his mind. How can a kind, capable woman like Super Nova be bad? _Tin Can Red is ruining everything for me,_ he thinks dejectedly.

 _"_ _All right. We've reached the farthest boundary. We're going offline,"_ Chase says.

 _"_ _Be careful, Chase,"_ Bree says.

 _"_ _I will."_

 _"_ _If they ever catch you,"_ Adam says, _"just talk to them about one of your inventions. They'll be so bored and annoyed, they'll let you go."_

Leo imagines Chase rolling his eyes. _"Turning off my com now,"_ Chase announces.

 _"_ _Talk to you guys soon,"_ Oliver says.

 _"_ _Super Nova, I trust that you know what to do?"_ Titan Red asks.

Some distance away from him, Leo finds Super Nova sighing. "You don't have to keep telling me, Scout."

 _"_ _Okay."_

After walking farther in, Super Nova stops. She turns towards Leo then waits until he catches up with her. "I think we've gone farther in, too," she says into the com set. "We need to go off the grid for now."

 _"_ _It's okay if you stay on, Super Nova,"_ Skylar tells her respectfully. _"You and Leo are still far enough from the first boundary. It's going—"_

Super Nova clicks her com off and takes it out of her ear.

Leo, unsure what to make of the frown she's directing at him, tells Skylar, "It's all right. I think it's just precautionary measure." Then, hesitatingly he adds, "Super Nova's offline."

There is an awkward pause. Then, _"Leo."_

Leo nods. "I'll keep you posted," he assures Skylar. Then, as Super Nova has done, he takes off his com then puts it in his pocket.

He doesn't turn it off.

Leo flashes a playful grin at Super Nova and hopes it will work. "So, uh, what are we going to do now?"

Super Nova stares at him indecisively as if unsure what to make of him. She narrows her eyes for a split second then nods at a thought that only she knows of. "Your sister tells me that you're good at spotting surveillance devices?"

"Oh. Well, um, not really. I'm actually better at escaping a situation that _results_ from not seeing them." Leo laughs. Super Nova doesn't look impressed. "I'm...a bit rusty. I haven't gone on any missions for the past three years. That's why I keep saying I shouldn't come. I know someone might get hurt if I'm not good enough."

Super Nova considers what he said, her stare towards him hard at first. Suddenly, her gaze softened – but only for a quick moment. She nods to the trail ahead of them.

"You want me to go first again?" Leo asks slowly, unsure.

Super Nova hums a yes. "I don't think you're as rusty as you say you are."

 _A compliment?_ "Oh. Okay," he says, and then leads the way.

"To my understanding, you were just like Adam, Bree, and Chase at one point in time," Super Nova says as they continue on a more even, more open terrain, "is that correct?"

"I was."

"Huh. So what happened? Got tired of it too soon?"

Leo scans the trees and finds no surveillance device. "I found out that it's just not my thing."

Super Nova hums again.

They walk on for what seems to be a quarter of a mile with only the white light of the late, chilly morning sun and the sound of ice crunching underneath their boots as their company. Squinting, Leo begins to wonder how much longer they'd be there. He hopes Titan Red won't purposely drag this out just to enjoy his misery a bit longer.

Then again, he won't put it behind the guy to do something like that. The man has a pretty twisted sense of humor.

"You and Skylar Storm seem to be really good friends," Super Nova suddenly comments some distance behind him.

Leo shrugs. "She's a friend of my siblings. It can't be helped, I guess." For a moment, the whole forestry fills with the sound of his boots trudging through deeper ice. Then, "It's my personal recommendation that you don't cultivate anything deeper with her."

Leo scoffs softly, noting that she's the second person to say that. "Is it because you think she's out of my league?"

"No. Why do you ask if that's what I think?"

He smiles sadly. "Because a friend of mine told me that not too long ago."

"A friend. You mean Amai Okonjo?"

Leo stops. Frowning, he slowly turns around. "What?"

His reflex acts faster than his recognition. He dives to the ground, swift to get out of the way of whatever it was heading towards him. It doesn't register until he feels the sting of the sharp wind slicing through the now open clothing on his arm and the throbbing, searing pain of what must be a second-degree burn.

It's a hand comet from Super Nova.

"Traitor," she hisses as she makes his way towards him.

Leo scoots back, his movements clumsy due to having only his legs and one arm to rely on.

"Turncoats like you deserve to die," Super Nova says.

"Super Nova, what are you—"

"Don't lie to me. I know what you did. How can you do that to your own family?"

"I didn't do—" He screams after a wrong move causes pain to shoot up his shoulder. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You betrayed your brother," Super Nova says. She charges another comet in her hand. "Now your whole family and the rest of the superheroes left remaining are in danger of perishing because of you."

Another comet shoots towards him, but Leo quickly rolls to avoid it.

He clenches his teeth and does his best not to cry as snow melts into his wound. Presence of mind is what he needs right now. "What do you mean? I didn't – I didn't betray anyone."

"You gave Corvus Black the information he needs for his revenge against us! Against our family!" Super Nova says. "Now we're all in danger!"

"Finish him."

Leo looks behind him, and there he finds Titan Red smiling at them. He uncrosses his arms. "It is in the best interest of us superheroes for a rat like him to just...vanish," he says.

Things add up quickly. Super Nova, accusation, Titan Red's smug look: false accusation. Or, better yet, a lethally designed manipulation. _But if he's here..._ "What did you do with Chase?"

"Chase? Nothing. I told him and Oliver that it's best if we split up so we can cover more ground. They agreed. So now, they're busy searching," Titan Red says, quite pleased.

Leo glares at him. He turns to Super Nova. "Don't believe him. Whatever he told you is a lie."

"You are in no position to tell me what to believe," Super Nova spits.

Titan Red smirks, but he removes it before Super Nova can see. "You've committed several counts of crimes, Mr. Dooley, ones that us superheroes and our League deem unpardonable," he states. "For that, you are now considered an enemy of the public and an enemy of the League of Superheroes."

Leo can feel his heart beating against his chest. He's almost positive they can hear it, too. He doesn't want to give Titan Red this satisfaction of seeing him terrified but it's as if his entire being is disobeying him.

He knows it's because he sees his likelihood of escaping this situation alive dwindling before his eyes. He looks at Titan Red and sees murder, and he looks at Super Nova and sees the same – only fueled by something she's misled to believe. There's no way out.

"It's now or never, Super Nova," Titan Red says.

Leo looks at the woman pleadingly. "Please," he says. "I know you know this is wrong. I don't know what it is that he told you about me, but you know this is wrong. Ending my life here will not be justice. Shouldn't I have a chance to prove myself?"

Titan Red scoffs. "You've gotten so good at this. Corvus Black must be proud to have taught a kid like you how to be so good at manipulating others like he is," he says. "Finish him, Super Nova."

For one second, Leo thinks that this is the end of him. Then, the next, he's not so sure anymore, especially because he sees the glint of doubt in Super Nova's eyes. "You have no right to tell me what to do either," Super Nova suddenly tells Titan Red.

"What?" he says. "But—"

"Even if it disgusts me just to look at him, we do have to bring him in."

"Why? We have enough evidence against him!"

"Because ending it all here would not be justice."

"We _are_ justice, Super Nova," Titan Red asserts. "We are the ones to decide what's best for everyone. It's our job. Right now, the best thing for the superheroes we have here with us is to eliminate him."

Super Nova shakes her head, her gaze softer. "It's not up to us to condemn people."

Titan Red chuckles bitterly. "You won't do it?"

Super Nova only glowers at him.

"Fine." Titan Red charges the laser in the right arm of his suit.

Leo scoots back, his last resort of escaping. He holds his breath when Titan Red aims.

The canon goes off—but it doesn't hit Leo.

"Super Nova!" Leo screams after finding the superhero lying face down and immobile some feet away.

Titan Red sighs, and it makes Leo sick to see him inspect his work without even an ounce of regret. He takes out a blaster stuck on the leg of his suit then tosses it to where Leo's right hand grips the snow. He shakes his head at him. "How could you do that to someone who's been protecting people for longer than you've been alive?"

"What?"

"It's part of Corvus' plan, isn't it? You eliminate the ones on the list and only leave whoever's not strong enough to fight the best villains?" Titan Red smirks. "How could you lure her here and do this to her? You were a hero once. How could you become so heartless?"

"What are you talking about? You're the one who hurt her!" Leo roars.

"Me? What do you mean? That blaster has your fingerprints all over it." Titan Red chuckles. "At least it will when the lab checks it. The guy I know who works there will make sure it will have whatever I need for it to have to justify me." He charges the laser again. "Don't take this personally," he tells Leo. "It's just self-defense."

Leo gasps as Titan Red's arm goes up.

Titan Red goes down when a large brown bear tackles him. He struggles against it as it pins him down, its great weight shattering parts of his suit. However, the animal's strong hold on his arms cracks the control that powers up his suit.

Leo staggers up to his feet, his eyes glued to this sudden and fearful change in circumstances. He looks around, behind, to his left and right to see if anyone has come to help him and Super Nova but finds nobody.

However, upon second look, he sees Seo Woo standing some yards away, wrapped up in a thick brown coat while watching Titan Red and the bear.

Leo follows his gaze. Finally, he realizes it.

The bird outside his house. Seo Woo knowing about him and Skylar. Now the bear. _He's asking animals to keep an eye on me._

When he sees Titan Red passed out on the snow and the bear drawing away, Leo looks at Seo Woo.

Seo Woo stares straight at him. He nods. _Go._

At that, Leo runs. He runs through the plain of vast snow and stillness like he's never run before in his life. The dry air hurts his throat and dries his mouth as he breathes. Blood and adrenaline pump through him. He doesn't know where he's going, but he needs to get as far away from Titan Red as possible.

He navigates over a sea of debris and somehow ends up in a part of the mountain where dead trees are so close to each other that getting through proves tricky. He veers to change directions...

...then an explosion causes him to lose his footing. He stumbles, rolling and rolling upon a chaos of wet twigs, sharp branches, mud and snow until he stops at the foot of a tree.

Sitting up, he finds Titan Red limping towards him, his suit in near shambles but his glare fierier than it was earlier. "You didn't think...you'd get away from me that easy, did you?" he says through labored breathing.

Leo tries to stand up but the pain surging through different parts of him holds him in place.

A small grin pulls at Titan Red's lips. "It's over," he says. The left arm of his suit crackles as he raises it. "Now I can rest in peace."

"Titan Red."

Both men look up at the sound of her voice. Seeing her, Titan Red adopts a well-rehearsed look of a victim. "Skylar," he says, not putting his arm down. He looks at Leo. "Super Nova. She's gone. She's gone because of him! He would've done the same to me. I had to protect myself!"

"No," Skylar says.

Titan Red frowns, confused.

"I saw the whole thing," Skylar says. "We were on the com the whole time. I know Mr. Davenport heard it, too." She shakes her head, and it's clear from her face that she's appalled. "How can you do that to Dina?"

Titan Red's expression clears. First there's surprise, then there's fear. He broods, lost in a thought for a moment. Just when Leo thinks he will turn against Skylar, too, he takes off to the skies, his heavily damaged armor sparking as it sputters before speeding off into wherever he may have willed it to go.

"Leo. Are you okay?"

Leo leans onto the tree when she approaches, gripping his left arm to stop the pain from spreading. "I'm..." He clenches his teeth as another wave hits him. "Super Nova," he says.

"What happened to her?"

He frowns. "I thought you saw?"

"No. But now I have enough reason to believe that Titan Red's not as morally straight as the League claims he is."

"We need to get help for Super Nova," Leo says, wincing as he sits up.

"All right." Skylar gets up to her feet. "Let's go."

"Go where?"

Skylar's gaze softened. "To the only place that can help you and Super Nova," she says.

"What about the mission?"

"It's a bust. We have to withdraw."

"What about—"

"Chase will take care of everything," Skylar asserts. "Right now, we have to go."

Leo nods. He winces as he places his good arm on Skylar's shoulder.

"Hold tight," she says.

And he does.


	19. It's All Fun and Games

Chapter Nineteen

 _ **It's All Fun and Games...**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

"Hey, Skylar!"

"I'm sorry to pop in like this, Sonara, but we need your help."

By the time they're hurrying through the back entrance of Mighty Med, Leo feels as if his damaged arm is on fire. Skylar is doing her best to move smoothly, but all the brisk walking is making it hard for both of them to keep everything as stable as possible.

"Do you have any private room we can take him in?" Skylar asks her stunned friend.

"Uh...well, okay. This way." She gestures to the hall on the left as she hurries to a room. "Let's take him this way."

Leo clenches his jaw as he hops towards the direction Skylar and Sonara lead him to. It took a lot for him not to scream out in pain as Skylar super sped them towards the facility. The travel has made his cut, bruises, burns, and whatever it is that had been left broken ten times worse.

If it's not so embarrassing, he would have opted into passing out by now.

Actually, dying doesn't seem like the worst option either.

"Here," Sonara says softly, and there on the empty bed Skylar pushes Leo down to.

Leo yelps at the hurried action.

"I'm sorry," Skylar says, closing the door to the room. Leo only realizes it then that she's out of breath and weary.

"What happened?" Sonara asks.

"It's a long story," Skylar huffs. She points to Leo and says, "Basically, he's injured. He's got a really terrible burn on his left arm, and he probably broke something."

"But..." Sonara frowns back and forth between Leo and Skylar, indecisive. "Skylar, he's not a superhero. He's not supposed to be here. He'll be better treated at the hospital outside."

"He used to be bionic," Skylar reasons. "We can't have them looking at him outside. He still has the components in him, and an MRI..."

"...would hurt him," Sonara finishes. She sighs. "Why would you do this to me? Mighty Med is still evaluating me. If they found I took in a normo, they'll withdraw their offer."

"We need to help him. We're heroes first, aren't we?" Skylar says. "Please help him for now, even just this time. We have nowhere to go."

Sonara thinks about it for a moment. Then, she acquiesces. "Where'd you find him anyways? I thought you were supposed to be with Kaz and Chase today?" she asks, pulling out a pair of latex gloves from an opened box on the wall.

"I was. Both of us were," she says, pulling a stool towards the foot of the bed.

"You have to take off your jacket so I can see," Sonara tells Leo.

Leo nods—the only response he can manage at the moment. Slowly, agonizingly, he unzips his coat then removes it. Sonara helps pull off the thick sleeves, marred by mud and flecks of dead twigs brought about by his improv stunt at the forest. "Thanks," he manages to croak out. Somehow, the warmth in the room makes him feel a bit better.

During that time, Skylar had been biting on her lip as she debated something. Eventually, she tells Sonara, "I think you may need to get in touch with your boyfriend after this."

Sonara's brows hitch. She points to herself. "Me?"

Skylar nods.

"Why?"

"Super Nova was with us during the mission."

Sonara pauses. "Was?"

Leo winces as he frees himself from the heavy coat. "Titan Red...killed her," he says.

"What?"

"I only heard it through the com," Skylar nods at Leo, "but he saw it."

Sonara blinks, confused. "Wait, wait, wait. How can he—I mean, why would he do that?"

"Because she wouldn't kill me," Leo admits. A part of him breaks as everything replays in his mind.

Both women stare at him, Skylar in pity, Sonara in stunned confusion. "Why would he want to kill you?" Sonara asks slowly.

"He's accusing Leo of being the leak," Skylar says. "You already know about the time traveler. Now Titan Red is saying that the attacks are happening because Leo's helping a villain get his revenge on the veteran superheroes."

Sonara backs away from Leo, pulling off the medical gloves. "I'm not going to help him if that's the case!"

"I'm not a traitor," Leo says, another wave of warmth carefully spreading from his chest outward. "Why would I do that? Chase is my brother. This is my family you're talking about. We may have some minor issues right now, but I'm not so terrible that I would betray them for some untrue revenge plot."

"How'd you know it's not true?"

Leo manages a soft scoff. "Because I don't know anyone named Corvus Black," he says. _I only know Chuck, and Chuck doesn't manipulate people like Titan Red says he does._

It takes Sonara a long while to think about this. Eventually, she goes and takes a pair of scissors out of the drawer. "Hold still," she instructs Leo when she comes back. He only leans farther away from her. She rolls her eyes. "I need to see the damage."

Leo looks at Skylar, cautious of her friend's trustworthiness.

Skylar gives him a small smile. She nods.

When he eases back, Sonara begins to carefully cut the burnt sleeve open. "What happened?"

Leo knows what she means. He turns his eyes away from her and the scissors. "Super Nova attacked me, I think because Titan Red told her that I've been the minion of whoever that bad guy is. She thinks I betrayed my family. The two of us were in the same search group, which, I realize now is probably a set-up from the start since it was Titan Red who divided the group that way. Tin Can split up with my brother and Oliver, and then he snuck out to us."

Leo swallows as he's once again back to that moment in the mountain. "She was going to kill me, and Titan Red keeps telling her to do it. I told her it won't be justice if she does that, and she listened. She told Titan Red that she won't do it, that she'd rather have the League deal with me through a trial. Titan Red asked her if she really won't do it. When she said she wouldn't, he, uh..." He can't continue as he hears the sound of the canon again, as he sees Super Nova just lying there.

Understanding that, Skylar speaks. "Titan Red tried to eliminate Leo, too, probably because he was a witness to what he did," she says. "I'm convinced he did something wrong because it scared him when I told him I saw everything. He took off. We tried to come back for Super Nova so we can take her here, too, but by the time we got there, she's gone."

"You think she could've survived?" Sonara asks.

Skylar doesn't know. She looks to Leo for the answer.

Leo stares at Super Nova as he last remembers her. "No," he says, and he wishes he can forget.

Sonara releases a shaky breath. She finishes her short examination of the burn then says, "This one's pretty bad. I'm going to have to call someone to help with this." She brashly takes off her gloves then huffs. "Mark was right: something _is_ going on with the League. It started with the kids, and now..." She takes a deep breath. "I knew something felt fishy with Titan Red. They're the most secretive about him. I've got a feeling they're gonna try to cover up for him again. Where's the justice they keep saying they serve?"

Leo and Skylar can only watch as Sonara's own thoughts consumed her. She had asked a good question, one that they doubt they would have any answer for any time soon.

Before the weight of it overtakes them, too, Leo asks, "Do you think the team made it out of the mountain safely?"

Skylar nods. "I think they had. Adam, Kaz, and Bree heard the whole thing, too. They were freaking out about it. Bree rushed off to look for you, and I did, too. Adam and Kaz set off to join Oliver and Chase just in case. That last blast was loud. If Chase and Oliver didn't know beforehand that something bad had gone down, I'm sure they would've then."

 _Oliver._ Leo nods, but only half-heartedly. As his brain rewinds to the hour before he and Super Nova were isolated, something that the ex-doctor said keeps popping up in his mind.

"Leo?" Skylar hitches her brows when he looks at her. "Did you remember something else?"

 _Yes,_ Leo wants to say. He remembers Oliver's comment about being friends with bad people, about those people turning their back at him. He remembers feeling that Oliver knows a little more than he lets on, and right now that suspicion only continues to build and to brighten.

But he doesn't say it, because it's too early. He has no evidence, and at the end of the day, no matter what it is that they have gone through together, Oliver still used to be Skylar's close friend.

No skillful wording will take away the offensiveness of the suggestion that maybe, just maybe, the Elite Force's ice prince may have worked with Titan Red to orchestrate that trap in the mountain.

Leo winces as a sharp pain stabs him under his ribcage.

Skylar stands up to check his condition. "Sonara..."

"Right. Um..." Sonara scrambles towards the phone on the wall and tosses her gloves in the trash. She dials a number then waits a long moment. She has just rolled her eyes when she flinches. "Hi, yes, Jaw? ...Yeah, it's Sonara. Do you remember the favor you owe me? I think I need to cash in on that now. Examination Room E on the first floor, west side."

Leo swallows after Sonara hangs up. "Jaw?"

Sonara nods. "He's a burn specialist. Not very experienced in the field, but he's good." She gives Skylar a look. "He's also someone I trust who would not tell the board of directors about this afterward."

"I'm really sorry about this," Skylar tells her.

"If it'd get you out of trouble, you can delete my memory of this place or whatever it is you need to do," Leo offers, feeling sorry for Skylar.

Sonara examines him with hitched brows. Then, a smirk begins to pull on her lips. "Your friend is amusing, Skylar," she says. Skylar only smiles. Leo, on the other hand, is confused. "I guess I can just consider you as a superhero patient for now. For old time's sake."

"Did I – " Leo winces a bit as he scoots closer to Skylar. He continues to whisper, "Did I say something?"

Skylar shakes her head, grinning. "I think she just finds you amusing."

Leo doesn't know whether to feel honored or offended.

"All right, Retiree." Sonara adjusts the dark purple polar glasses closer to her eyes as she focuses on her patient's body. "Let's see what's in there."

Leo covers his torso with his good arm and crosses his legs. "Oh no you won't," he protests.

Sonara places her hands on her hips impatiently. "Really?"

"Leo, she's just gonna check the internal damage you sustained," Skylar kindly explains to him. She smiles encouragingly. "It's gonna be all right. It's just necessary so she can help you."

Leo frowns but complies reluctantly. He awkwardly straightens up in his seat.

"Perfect," Sonara mumbles.

As she begins the scan, Leo asks Skylar, "When do you think we can contact them? I don't want my mom to worry when she doesn't see me."

"As soon as your examination is finished, I'm sure we can call her," Skylar says.

Leo nods.

"Um..." Sonara cuts in. She presses her hooked index finger to her lips while regarding her patient with utmost confusion. "You said you used to be bionic, right?"

"Yeah?" Leo says.

"And bionic humans are, at the basic level, still human in make up, right?"

"Yeah?"

Sonara's frown only deepens.

"It's probably going to look a little different than the others', Sonara," Skylar kindly offers. "Leo wasn't fully bionic. It was only his arm."

"Yeah, my arm and my leg," Leo adds.

"Yeah, that's why it would probably look different," Skylar says.

Sonara nods. She crosses her arms then says, "You know, I won't say that I'm an expert when it comes to the anatomy of gifted people because I'm not. But, I am quite knowledgeable with the human anatomy." She shakes her head. "What I'm seeing in front of me is something I don't know of."

"What do you mean?" Skylar asks Sonara.

Sonara points as she replies, "I see everything that a normal human male has inside his body, plus the mechanical components that you speak of. But I see at least two organs that I've never seen before. I can't see really well in the back, so there may be more, but..." She takes off her specialized glasses. "Whatever it is that I see isn't human."

Leo's heart bobs at that.

Not human. _This is the second time._

The door to the room opens. "Yo," a tall, boulder-like creature dressed in a nurse's uniform greets them.

"Jaw."

"Mm." He notices Skylar then nods at her politely. "Hello, Ms. Storm."

"Hi."

"This is Leo, by the way, Jaw. Bionic."

Jaw coldly eyes their patient up and down. "He doesn't look so super to me," he observes.

"He's retired—"

"So early?" Jaw cuts Sonara off.

"He's just come back out today," Sonara says, annoyed. She waves that away. "Listen, I need your help in treating him. Something went wrong with their mission, and he got burned pretty bad on his left arm."

"Why me? Why not ask Dr. Escobar for this?" Jaw says.

"Well..."

Jaw sighs. "He's not supposed to be here, is he?"

"Well, he won't be as soon as we finish helping him," Sonara says, flashing an aspartame-sweet grin at him.

Jaw rolls his eyes (or at least it seems to Leo that that's what he did). He huffs as he approaches Leo. "You'll owe me lunch with this one," he says to Sonara. "Now quick: where's this burn?"

Leo reluctantly turns to his right to give him better access to his left arm.

"Has Douglas mentioned anything to you back then about the bionics?" Skylar says to Leo in an attempt to solve their mystery. "I know you won't have a bionic chip like your siblings, but do you think there could've been something else they, I don't know, installed?"

Their conversation is curtailed by Jaw's chuckle. "You really like messing with me, don't you?"

Sonara frowns. "Huh?"

"Just for that, you'll owe me two lunches now."

"Jaw, what are you talking about?"

The confusion etched so indelibly in the others' faces shrinks Jaw's smirk. "The burn you told me about. There is none," he says.

"What?"

"I mean, there's a tiny gash there," Jaw says as both girls – and even Leo – check the arm that, just a few minutes ago, was riddled with awful burns.

The burns – they're not there anymore. There's only what appears like a terrible yet much smaller scrape.

"This is a joke, right?" Jaw asks Sonara, unsure now of his own claim.

Sonara shakes her head. "No. It wasn't."

Terrified, Leo tries to feel the ribs he's positive he had broken earlier. He presses on them gently, then with a little pressure, then with a little more, but the pain that slices through his flesh and his bones earlier doesn't come.

Instead, he only feels the warmth that since earlier has radiated from somewhere deep in his chest.

"Whoa."

Leo looks up at Sonara, and the surprised look he sees in her eyes, and in Skylar's and Jaw's eyes, suddenly makes him feel queasy. He follows their gazes to his arm.

A red, irritated scratch. It's all that's left there now.

"Are your bionics really off?" Sonara asks, alarmed.

Though stunned, Leo nods.

Sonara frowns. "If your bionics are off, then how can you heal this quickly?"

"Do bionic humans even have that ability at all?" Jaw asks.

"No," Skylar says, and Leo can feel the suspicion and doubt in her stare even if he doesn't look at her. "No they don't."

Pheromone immunity, and now a regenerative ability. _What am I?_ Leo asks as he finally realizes that Doc has been right all along.


	20. The Real Deal

_Thanks to AGW and NaguraFlames for the review last chapter! You know, reading back on old stuff, I realized I don't dig this no note thing. It's so...not my style :P_

 _Anyway, the updates should be more frequent now. We're getting closer to the last chapters, so we'll speed up._

 _Last thought: do any of you guys have a fic you've always wanted to read? Prompts are greatly appreciated; I need to write more but am out of ideas._

* * *

Chapter Twenty

 _ **The Real Deal**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

Rain drops have begun to drizzle down Mission Creek by the time Skylar and Leo get back to the mansion. The sun has been long gone, and along with the darkness has come the frigid air that early springtime still carries. The yellow lights lining the streets make it appear all the more lonely, and the whoosh of the ocean waves rising higher ever so slightly towards land renders the silence more unbearable.

Skylar stops just a few feet from the door, and Leo, who had been walking some distance behind her for some time, stops too. She doesn't look at him. Honestly, to Leo, she doesn't have to.

He's discovered another thing he really doesn't like: the look of doubt in Skylar's face when she looks at him. He doesn't like it because it implies two things: one, that she does trust him in a deeper level than how she trusts a stranger; and two, that he's done something to lose that.

He likes her ( _a lot_ ), and to watch her draw back from him and possibly even consider what Titan Red has claimed makes him feel inadequate.

Leo continues to watch her in silence. When she finally turns around, he's surprised that he flinches a little.

Skylar opens her mouth to say something but closes it again. She stares at him for a moment, conflicted but also probably devoid of the words to say, and then looks away.

Another thing Leo doesn't like: the shadow of disappointment he sees on her face.

"I think..." Skylar reevaluates then goes instead with, "Chase said they're all waiting for us."

The softness in her voice isn't lost on Leo. He nods. He thinks they might stay like this forever, but then Skylar turns around. "Skylar, wait," he says.

Skylar looks at him.

"I'm not a traitor," Leo tells her almost pleadingly, his voice as soft as hers.

Skylar considers it. She doesn't look at him. "I believe you."

"Then why can't you look at me?"

"Because—" Skylar sighs. "Because I don't know what to make of this."

 _That's fair._ Leo comes closer to her but only a little. He doesn't want the third dislike thing of the day to be the sight of fear in her eyes as she looks at him. "I don't know what I am either," he confesses to her.

He doesn't see it, but the sadness in his face brings about sympathy in her gaze. "Have you known beforehand?" she asks.

He doesn't want to lie. "A person that I know... _forced_ me to participate in this study," he says. "It was maybe about two weeks ago that he told me some things didn't match up. I thought he was just being crazy when he told me I wasn't human."

"Have you asked your mom about this?"

"I tried to. She thinks I'm just stressed at school," Leo says, exasperated. He sighs. "I've been thinking of every possibility. Right now, I'm down to whoever my dad is must not have been human."

Skylar looks at him apologetically. She smiles when a thought occurs to her. "Is it gonna be so bad to find out you're an alien?" she says. Her smile brightens when he lifts his eyes up at her. "I'm an alien and, it's pretty cool – except for maybe the rumors that go around saying I eat people's brains."

A mischievous grin albeit weary comes to Leo's face. "I'm pretty sure that's what you tell people right before you do eat their brain," he says.

Skylar's jaw drops. Nonetheless, a grin tugs at the edges of her lips.

The expression on Leo's face soon slides off. "But seriously, I don't...I don't even know what I'll do when my mom finally tells me. What if she doesn't even know? My dad's been gone a long time."

"Do you think she'll tell you eventually?"

"Probably not until much later. Mom's not the kind of person to spit out things when she's not ready," Leo says. He sweeps his hand down his face in exasperation. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Skylar smiles at him sympathetically. It surprises Leo when she places her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay," she says.

Through that, Leo knows: she doesn't want him to feel alone. He smiles at her, grateful.

For the briefest of moments, he wonders how different things would have been if he had been sent to become part of the Elite Force instead Bree or Chase.

The front door opens too quickly, and before they can react, Kaz is already standing there, the humid cloud that is the scent of dinner hanging over and past him. He stares at them with widened eyes, as startled as they are. His brows, though, rises next at what he sees: Skylar's hand, Leo's shoulder.

Skylar and Leo repel from each other when they realize what it must've looked like.

"Uh, yo..." Kaz calls to those inside the house, still unable to take his eyes off the two of them. "They're here."

Bree pops up from the dining room. "Leo! You're okay!"

"Yeah. I'm – I'm okay," Leo says.

After sliding past Kaz, he is ambushed with hugs from his siblings. While being squeezed tightly by Adam, he sees their parents nearby watching them in relief. "Where were you?" Adam demands dramatically after letting him go. "We've been waiting for you all day to return!"

Leo exchanges a glance with Skylar. "Someone looked me over," he says simply.

"Someone?" Chase asks.

"A good friend. Someone Skylar knew." Leo glances again at Skylar to see if what he said was okay.

She gives him a subtle nod.

Bree watches the exchange but says nothing about it. Instead, she scans Leo then notes, frowning, "You don't look like you were hurt at all."

Leo stills a little at that. "It's, uh...It wasn't that bad."

"Who would've thought Titan Red was a complete nut job?" Adam says. "All this time we thought he'd be okay, and then he'd do something like that."

"Yeah," Chase agrees, joining his older brother at the dining table. "I knew something was a bit off when he suggested that the three of us split up. It just didn't seem practical."

"I'm a bit curious, though," Bree says to Leo thoughtfully. "Why did Titan Red say that the top villain is training you?"

"Can we not talk about that man for a minute?" Tasha requests as she places a basket of warm dinner rolls on the table. While her husband finishes up the setting by adding two more glasses, she walks over to the kitchen. Her face wrinkles in disgust. "I can't believe we let someone like him in our house. To think that he must have been planning something like that this whole time while he is with us is unsettling to me."

"I do feel partially responsible for that, Mrs. Davenport," Kaz says sheepishly. "I'm really sorry."

"There's no way you would've known, Kaz," Donald tells him.

Kaz, though still feeling guilty, takes his place beside Oliver at the table then takes one of the dinner rolls.

Tasha stirs what's in the pot then turns off the stove. "Dinner's done, sweetheart," she tells Leo. "Why don't you and Skylar come join us for dinner? I know it's a bit late, but it took me a while to make those rolls from scratch."

"They're pretty good," Chase vouches. "I'm actually a bit surprised how well it turned out. I always thought Tasha's one of the worst cooks I've ever met in my life." The bionic slaps a hand on his mouth in surprise.

"Chase," Donald says in shock.

"I'm sorry, Tasha! I don't know where that came from," Chase pleads. "It just... I wasn't..."

Tasha, albeit unhappy, ponders over her reply for a minute. She sighs. "It's not like you kids don't insult me on a daily basis anyways," she mutters. She pauses, startled by her response, too.

"O-kay!" Donald claps his hands, a forced smile on his face as the awkwardness in the room thickens. "I think everyone might just be hungry. It's late, and we all just have to eat. Come on, everyone. Let's just eat. Quickly."

Leo frowns as his family, along with Kaz and Oliver, move closer to the food on the table. The exchange between his mother and Chase was odd. The rest of the Elite Force team hadn't been around their family long enough to know what's normal and what's not, but he can tell that they sense it was strange, too.

Still, with the wonderful smell of clam chowder and baked bread wafting through the house, he couldn't bring himself to the table. He's too tired, and he's actually quite eager to check his phone to see if anyone from the Hangar has contacted him yet. "I'm sorry, Mom, but I think I may have to skip food for tonight," he tells her. "I want to go to sleep."

"You don't want to eat even just a little?" she asks.

Leo feels bad to hear the disappointment in her voice. "What about tomorrow?" he bargains, smiling. "I'll eat it for breakfast. Promise. Please save me some."

"Your mom really worked hard on this, Leo," Donald attempts.

"Yeah," Adam says, chuckling. He scoops some salad into his plate then says, "She had me looking all over for her special ingredient."

"Special ingredient?" Leo asks.

"The oregano essential oil your grandmother told me to use for this," Tasha says, waving at the piece of bread in her hand. She frowns after taking a bite. "Oddly enough, I don't taste it. I practically doused the eggs with it. Did I not use enough?"

Adam grins, chewing on one. "It's probably gone bad because Leo's had the bottle in his room forever."

 _Bottle?_ The wrinkle on Leo's brow clears. "Where'd you say you found it?" he asks loudly while he hurries to his room.

"In your room! On the desk!"

Leo turns on the light in his room.

There, where he placed the bottle of truth serum Doc gave him, the space lies empty.

 _Oh no._ Leo rushes back to the dining table and asks, "How much have you guys had of that thing?"

"Uh, we've all eaten a few," Chase answers, confused.

"We've been eating them as Tasha made them," Bree adds.

Donald chuckles. "Leo, what's wrong? Why are you panicking?"

"I think it's best if you guys stop eating them," Leo says.

"What?" Bree chuckles.

"The bread, whatever else has been touched by the oil, stop eating them," Leo says. "I'm serious."

His family exchange bewildered glances. Grinning, Chase asks, "Are you sure you're not hungry? You're kind of talking funny."

Leo rolls his eyes. "The bottle I had in my room isn't essential oil, it's a truth serum!"

"Truth serum?" Chase says.

"Yes!"

"That's just crazy," Adam dismisses.

Bree scoffs. "Not as crazy as Skylar thinking short hair looks cute on her." She gasps after hearing herself. She covers over her mouth with her hand then stares fearfully and apologetically at Skylar.

"I told you it's a truth serum!" Leo tells them.

Everybody at the dining room table instantaneously distances themselves from it. After spitting out the food in his mouth onto his plate, just like the others are doing, Chase asks, "What in the world, Leo! Why do you even have a truth serum for?"

"It's not mine!" Leo says, his panic level rising with the others'. "Someone I knew gave it to me!"

"What kind of twisted person would make something like this?" Adam exclaims, rubbing his tongue clean with a table napkin.

 _Well, that's exactly why he made it: he's twisted,_ Leo agrees. "Okay, just – everyone, just calm down. Mom, how much of it did you put in?"

"Um, two tablespoons, probably?" Tasha answers.

"Okay." Leo mentally calculates the numbers Doc has given him with what his mother had. Then, "Okay, I'm not sure how much of it is water-soluble, but try to keep drinking a lot of water. It should wear off by tomorrow noon."

"What if it doesn't?" Chase demands.

"...Drink a lot of coffee tomorrow and wait until you poop it out?" Leo offers.

The suggestion is met with eye rolls and scoffs. "All right," Tasha says. "I guess we all just need to turn in for the night for now."

"Seriously, Leo," Donald says, a heavy frown on his face as he wipes off the food debris stuck in his shirt. "How could you even bring something like that in our house?"

Leo doesn't miss the disappointment in his tone. A measure of his own disappointment rises to the place of guilt. How could they be this mad at him? It's not like he's the one who put it in their food. _Adam_ went in his room—without permission—and is he to be blamed for what resulted from it?

Still, he doesn't argue. He's too tired, and everyone's probably just a little too honest right now because of the serum.

He decides to tell them that he's going to bed when he hears Bree mutter, "Who even is this friend that gave you this..."

The question, seemingly innocent at first, strikes him. It's a little too loaded, a little too charged by something, for it to mean nothing. That hunch, added with the steady, intense glower from Oliver, moves him to ask a question he knows he will only get an honest answer to. "You suspect me, Bree?" he asks. "You really think I did what Super Nova and Titan Red said I did?"

All other motions stop. Suddenly, all eyes are on the two of them.

Bree winces as she bites back the answer. It's there, Leo can tell, because her shoulders are tense with the words she tries to hold back. When the pain becomes unbearable, she finally blurts out, "Yes." She takes a few breaths before defensively saying, "You can't blame me. Leo, you're always gone, you bring home things like this, you don't even look remotely interested in protecting Chase—it's kind of hard not to think that way."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you've changed," Bree says. "You've been acting so weird since this whole thing started."

"Bree, I go to school," Leo defends. "I have my own life—"

"Oh, because you're some college kid now, you won't help us anymore?"

"You two, stop it," Donald tells them.

Leo forces himself to shut up even if he didn't want to. Though he's hurt, he can still think clearly enough to be a bit understanding. Maybe the chasm between him and his siblings are growing bigger because he _did_ do some things that hurt them. He distanced himself from them without letting them know why, and maybe that may have been a mistake.

Still, he can't help but feel that they should have known he needed them. Once they reached their 'grown' stage, all of them just left. Actually, they left him long before that. How can they expect him to just sit still and stop his life for them?

A question builds in him. It builds and it builds until finally, it comes out of his mouth softly, painfully: "Do you think it would have been best if Titan Red had killed me, then?"

A different kind of hurt comes to Bree's eyes. "Why would you even ask me that question?" she says.

"Because I think you believe him, more than you believe me," Leo says. "You think I really would betray you. You're convinced that now, because I'm not with you, I must be against you. This sucks, Bree, if we're being real here, because that, what, about fourteen days you spent with that murderer weighs a lot more to you than the four years we were together. He tells you it's me, and just that quick you believe I'm the source of that stupid leak that told these villains I've never even heard of in my life about the stupid future."

Bree crosses her arms and averts her eyes.

"Like I said, that's enough," Donald tells his children. Turning to Leo, he says, "You're going to get in a lot of trouble for this, young man. You should've known not to bring something like that here."

 _Great,_ Leo thinks bitterly. _They hurt me, and I get in trouble for it. How typical._

"Come on, you guys," Tasha says, casting her son a sympathetic look. "Let's just all go to bed for now. Things might be better tomorrow."

"I don't know," Oliver suddenly speaks as everyone turned towards their respective destinations. He keeps his hand on the back of his chair and holds his steely gaze at Leo, challenging him. "I think I'm with Bree: I still think he's the one who did it."

"Oliver," Kaz hisses. "What are you doing?"

Oliver ignores him.

Offended, Leo scoffs. "You really think _I_ did it?"

Oliver shrugs.

"I talked to those villains, told them about Chase being the key to the future, and sent them here."

Oliver only holds his stare.

"Are you crazy?"

Oliver pulls up his chair then sits on it. "I mean, it's obvious that you really want us to believe it isn't you," he says. He nods to the basket of dinner rolls. "Prove it."

"Oliver," Skylar warns.

"If he's telling the truth, then he's got nothing to be scared of," Oliver growls at her. He refocuses his glare on Leo. "What are you waiting for? We haven't got all night."

Leo blinks. As Kaz alternates between chiding his best friend and apologizing to their hosts, he lists the pros and cons of taking on the dare. On the one hand, he really does have nothing to hide. He's completely innocent of the charges slung at him; his hands are clean.

However, if the ex-doctor does know something about him and those in the Hangar as he's suspected earlier in the mountain, then the serum will force him to reveal his connection to the supervillains in their No Fight list.

So then comes the conundrum of the night: family or friends?

Bravely yet nervously, he approaches the table. He's reaching for the basket when a thought occurs to him. He frowns. "You know who it is the leak really came from, don't you?" he asks Oliver.

Suddenly, the ex-doctor's glare isn't as sharp anymore.

Leo's frown clears. "Who is it?" he asks. "Is it Titan Red?"

Oliver holds Leo's stare but is unable to hold back the answer. "No."

"Is it someone from your team?"

"No."

"Is it—"

"It's me, okay?" Adam suddenly cries out.

"What?" Donald exclaims.

Adam clutches his stomach as the pain gripping within him since earlier throbs forcefully at the release. He groans. "I'm sorry, Mr. Davenport," he says. "I just thought it was so cool that we had a time traveler visit us again."

"Adam..." Chase says.

"I took a picture with Brannon during the second night of his stay, and I posted it on Instagram," Adam continues to explain. "I mentioned about his mission here, and I kind of hinted that we need to keep Chase safe? I didn't realize until ten minutes later that I could be risking everyone." Desperately, he tells his father, "I took it down, Mr. Davenport! It was a dumb move, and I shouldn't have done it. But now...Now I think I wasn't quick enough to take it down."

"Adam!" Bree scolds. "Do you know how fast the fansites are when it comes to spreading news like that?"

"I know, I know!" Adam sighs. "I shouldn't have done it. It's the biggest mission we've had in a while, and I just got too excited."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Chase asks.

"I was going to, but—" Adam locks his jaws as he tries to prevent the truth from spilling out of his mouth.

That won't do for Leo. "Adam."

"Titan Red told me not to tell anyone!" Adam blurts out. "I told him last week, and he and Oliver told me not to tell anyone else. Now, please, Leo, can you stop asking me questions? It really hurts to hold things back. Like, a lot."

His plea, however, doesn't register to Leo. What does is the fact that Oliver knows all along whose fault everything is and yet he decides to join Titan Red in pinning everything on him. "Man, what's wrong with you?" he tells the brooding ex-doctor. "I get that you don't like me, and I don't even remotely care, but how could you even team up with that psychopath in framing me up?"

"Because you _are_ a liar, just like he said," Oliver fires. "It's bad enough that you're hiding the things you're hiding from your family, but to get Skylar involved in it, too?"

"Just quit it, Oliver," Skylar says so silently, so wearily. She crosses her arms tighter. "Titan Red turned out to be someone we can't trust, and it's all right to admit that it was a mistake to take him in on this. Leo had nothing to do with this mission at all, as Bree had pointed out, so let's just leave him out of this, okay?"

Oliver stares at her, first in surprise, then in hurt, last in anger. "Why do you always defend him?" he asks Skylar. "I don't get it. What do you even see in him?"

Skylar sighs. "Oliver—"

"No, no. Seriously, I want to know," Oliver insists. "It's like ever since we got here, you two have always been together, like he's your best friend or something. I don't know if you've forgotten, Skylar, but Kaz and I are your best friends. Us. And this guy—" he gestures to Leo, "this guy just wedged himself into our lives and talks like he knows everything there is to know about you! Is that it, then? Is that why you like him? How can you even lower yourself to like a mediocre-looking normo like him?"

Leo's brow hitches.

"It's none of your business whether I like him or not," Skylar says evenly, and it's so deceptive that Leo barely realizes the anger bubbling underneath those words.

Oliver smirks bitterly. "So that's really it, then? Our friendship ends, just like this, just because of him?"

"We _were_ still friends?"

"Of course we are!"

"Like, you, me, and Kaz? The whole team?"

At that, the rest of the Elite Force exchange glances. "Skylar," says Chase. "Of course we're friends. We've always been."

"Really? Is that why you and Kaz told Oliver that both of you have barred me from being a potential girlfriend, like you two had any right over me in the first place?" Skylar watches her teammates' faces fall, one by one. She tells them softly, brokenheartedly, "You don't think I know, but I do. You've set up walls around me without even asking me. All of you, you've shut me out."

"Skylar..."

"Careful, Kaz," Skylar advises evenly. "You can't lie right now."

"This is just a big misunderstanding," says Chase.

Skylar neither agrees nor refutes it; she doesn't see the need to.

"Skylar, you can't be mad at us for this," Bree reasons. "You can't blame us for trying to help Oliver through a break-up that you brought about out of the blue."

Leo chuckles bitterly. "This team couldn't be this bad."

"Can you, like, stay out of this for just one second, Leo?" Chase barks. "All of this is your fault! You're not even a part of our team!"

"Chase," Donald warns.

"You know what's funny?" Skylar tells Chase. "I'm not part of the team either. Not anymore. I quit." Over the chorus of protests, she adds, "Look at us. Look at what we've all become. We're supposed to be the good guys, but have we really set ourselves up so high that we can't even take responsibility for the things that happen? For two years, this is what always happens. We blame others, we blame each other. And, whether you realize it or not, we live in a hierarchy. This is not what I signed up for."

Skylar turns to Oliver. "So yeah, I will lower myself for him and for anyone else I want to. I've never once wanted to be up on a pedestal. I'll be more than happy to come down."

"Is that why I lost you, then?" Oliver asks her quietly, his eyes revealing of the broken things inside of him. "Because you got tired of everything?"

Skylar's eyes considerably soften, and from where Leo stands he can see tears teasing in her eyes. "No."

"Then what is it? Is it because I didn't love you enough?"

"No, Oliver. It's because you didn't love me at all," Skylar says. "You liked me, but you were so scared of losing me that you thought you love me."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Everything. Because while you were using me to keep your head above water, I was drowning." Skylar looks away then does her best to blink back her tears. After composing herself, she tells him and Kaz, "Our friends _died._ How come we all just pretend it never happened? I miss them so much, every day, but outside of revenge, it's like Horace and Alan and the others never existed at all."

At that, a sobering silence reigns.

"I need you, Skylar," Oliver says, begs. "You're the only one who can anchor me."

"If I'm your anchor, then who's gonna be mine?"

The question echoes louder and louder in the silence. Oliver knows what it all means, and it's obvious in the unspoken desperation in his gaze: he's lost Skylar forever. Nothing he can say or do will bring her back. It's all too late.

The great rage that results from this all pours on Leo, and Leo sees that in Oliver's glare. In those few seconds, he sees unadulterated hatred towards him such as he's never seen before.

However, before he can truly comprehend the threat that also lies beneath, Oliver storms out of the room.

"Oliver," Kaz calls. He glances at Skylar then Leo. He shakes his head—out of disappointment in them, in himself, or in both, they don't know.

Kaz, like Oliver, doesn't stick long enough for them to find out.

Donald sighs after Kaz goes after Oliver. He runs his hands down his face then says to the remaining members of the Elite Force, "We're gonna have to talk about this tomorrow. It'll just be a disaster to discuss all of this right now."

Chase nods. He and Bree shoot sharp glances towards Leo.

"You guys just go to bed," Tasha tells them. "I'll take care of the clean up."

As his family slowly disperses, Leo turns towards Skylar. "I'm sorry," he tells her quietly.

Skylar doesn't answer. She doesn't look at him either.

"I want you here with the team tomorrow morning at breakfast," Donald tells his stepson. He pauses, thinks, and then judges: "As part of your punishment, you're going to work alongside the team for the rest of the mission."

"What?" Leo exclaims. "But Big D—"

"No. You've caused damage. No excuses," Donald firmly replies. "I've let all the things you've done go so many times because I thought that letting you have a normal life means you won't get in trouble as much. Then now you bring some serum into the house without telling me."

"This is unfair," Leo claims. When he gets no response from his stepfather, he turns to his mother for help.

"I'm sorry, Leo, but I'm with your stepfather," Tasha says. She pauses from gathering untouched dishes. Sympathetically, she adds, "Maybe this would help refocus you. You've been out the house quite a lot, and you've been so distant. Maybe having your friends be around you and going on these missions with them will help you remember what's more important."

 _They think_ I'm _being selfish?_ Leo thinks indignantly.

"Come on, you three," Donald tells Adam, Bree, and Chase wearily. "You need to get some rest."

"What do you know about Dad?"

The room pauses at that question.

Minutely, Tasha's grip on the plates tighten.

Leo sees it, and it causes his stomach to twist in knots. "Mom."

The plates fall with a light thud on the dinner table. "Don't ask me about him," Tasha tells Leo, her eyes squeezing shut.

 _Pain._ She's trying to lie? "Mom?"

Tasha bites back the surging pain. She tries to catch her breath before asking, "Leo. Stop this. Please."

Everything within him creaks closer to a collapse. He feels as if his heart is frozen and his lungs have stopped working. "Did—" He withdraws for a moment. If he finishes what he wants to ask, will he be able to accept the answer? "Did you lie to me about Dad? Did you even really know him?"

"I love you, Leo," Tasha says, wincing. "That's all you need to know."

That frightens him more. "You didn't know him."

Tasha whimpers. The pain has become too much that she needs to support herself against the table.

"Mom."

"I didn't," Tasha finally blurts out. "No one does."

 _No one?_ The collapse becomes imminent. "Am I even yours at all?"

Tasha groans.

"Leo, stop," Donald pleads. There's fear in his eyes, too – for the truth that has quickly become obvious and for the both of them.

There's no more use for asking; Leo knows that. Still, a part of him hopes that she will prove him wrong. "Mom—"

"You're mine, Leo. You've always been mine," Tasha says, now in tears. "Ever since he brought you to me, ever since I saw you, you were mine."

"He...brought..."

"Your caseworker, the man in the pictures, the one who I said was your dad. He was just a friend of mine..."

He stares at her in terror, in denial, in confusion as his world fractures then crashes right in front of his eyes. He doesn't hear the rest of what she tells him. He only sees her break down not long after in her husband's arms. She looks up at him pleadingly, begs him to understand, but Leo can't even see her.

All he sees is her and Naomi and how much sense it makes now how her love for him cooled off so fast in just a matter of two years.

The stares of pity from the rest of his family (these strangers?) suffocate him. The house, now foreign to him, shrinks smaller.

He slowly backs away from that world and its people that he doesn't know. Then, he runs. He runs out of the house, runs away from the blames and lies, runs out of range where their voices, no matter how loud, can reach. He rushes to the street where cold rain and darkness swallows him whole, with only his disquieting thoughts to keep him company.

His hand fumbles for his phone. After taking it out of his pocket, he dials the number of the person he trusts the most in that moment. "Hey, Chuck?" he says in confusion when the other end clicks answer. "Look, I know you probably hate my guts right now, but I need a place to stay tonight. I, uh, I really need a friend."

There's silence. Then, a click.

The call has ended.

A few seconds later, his phone vibrates.

 _Corner of Ruby and Trindle Court._

 _A taxi will pick you up from there._

It's about five blocks from where he stands to the corner of Ruby and Trindle.

At that realization, Leo goes.

* * *

 _Next: Chapter Twenty-One - The Fall of Corvus Black_


	21. The Fall of Corvus Black

_Thanks to AGW, Cinnybun, and NaguraFlames for your reviews! I'll get it together soon and send you guys response private messages (especially you, AGW - sorry about that!)_

 _Longest chapter ahead, y'all - but it's got some pretty nice things I enjoyed writing, plus a sorta-kinda surprise? You'll just have to judge for yourselves. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!_

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One

 _ **The Fall of Corvus Black**_

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Chuck's mansion is, in all sense of the word, incredible. Hidden somewhere in the old money suburbs of Auburn, California, the travel took nearly two hours. The unexpected drive hadn't been too bad now that he thinks about it. The taxi driver wasn't chatty, which was for the best. The man just occasionally darted annoyed glances at him through the rearview mirror.

Leo supposes it was because he was absolutely drenched when he got in the car.

When the taxi pulled into the driveway of what looked like an abandoned asylum up on a hill, he was absolute he had gotten into the wrong car and had unfortunately ended up as a voluntary victim for some serial killer. However, what was worse than the thought that he was going to die was the fact that he didn't care if he actually did.

He was scared out of his wits, but he hoped The Glare – the name he came up with for the supposed serial killer taxi driver – would do it quickly.

To his surprise, though, after letting him out of the vehicle, the man drove off.

'I'm gonna die' quickly turned to 'I'm being pranked' as he stared at the dark oak doors of the abandoned house. He stood under the unending rain for what felt like forever before finally deciding to give the door a try.

Here's a lesson he learned tonight: Chuck is very, _very_ good at keeping things on the down low.

Here's another lesson: a person can't judge another person correctly by just an assumption.

Just like Hangar 72, the house that welcomed him when he stepped inside was definitely not what he expected from looking at it outside. It's so modern, clean. Inviting. It's like one of those perfectly engineered houses he's seen on TV.

Chuck walked in as he's taking in the interior of the house. He looked at him from head to toe then his eyes softened. He directed him to a room (one of the billions he must have at this place) and told him to change into something dry and comfortable.

He then told him to wait for him in the living room, which is exactly what Leo is doing now in a pair of jeans and an ash-colored long-sleeved shirt that he found in one of the drawers in the room.

He sits up when Chuck comes from around the corner with a mug of something steaming and a manila folder. "Thanks," he says when Chuck slides the drink towards him after sitting down.

"I trust that you turned off your phone like Rolando told you to?" Chuck asks.

"He threw my phone out the window, so yeah – I think it's off," Leo says wearily.

Chuck nods.

Leo sees the apology ghosting in Chuck's feature, so he says, "Seriously, it's no big deal. I know you're being careful for security reasons." He lifts up the cup. "Besides, that phone is the least of my concerns right now."

"You must've been in a pretty bad situation," Chuck comments. He grins. "Your call had a great timing."

Leo's shoulders hang. "I know. You probably don't even want to see me right now. Is everyone still mad at me?"

Chuck sighs, and already Leo can tell that a bad news is coming. "Vanessa and Nisha blame you for the attack at the Hangar. They're convinced you called it in, no matter how much I tell them to give you a chance to explain," he says. "Amai doesn't say anything, but she doesn't look very happy about what happened either. Doc is...well, he's still Doc."

"Chuck, please, believe me when I say that I didn't tell anyone about the Hangar," Leo pleads. "I'm not like that."

"I know," Chuck says amiably. "That's why I keep trying to tell the girls that you had nothing to do with it. Wynnford is in town, and I have no doubt that it was just part of his plan."

Plan? Leo buries his face in his palms when the answer comes to him. "He attacked all of you because of me, because I ticked him off," he laments into his hands. "It _is_ my fault."

Chuck kindly pulls one of Leo's hands away from his face. He smiles when the boy looks at him. "He would've done something despicable anyways," he says. "He also has an axe to grind with me and Amai. At least she wasn't there when he came."

Leo's head hangs low. He knows Chuck wants him to be more forgiving of himself, but he can't get rid of the guilt that comes from knowing that the place Chuck built is now compromised because of him. "Is everyone okay at least? Were any of your hurt?"

"No. We were surprisingly efficient in getting out of there," Chuck says, a grin rising to his face.

Leo nods. "Seo Woo helped me this morning," he says later when he remembers the mission at the mountain.

"Oh?"

"Tin Can forced me to come with them on the rescue mission. I should've known it was a trap," Leo says. "He was going to kill me, but Seo Woo stopped him in time. Or, at least, the mountain bear that he talked into helping me did."

"Well, Seo Woo is definitely full of surprises. At least when you don't know him that well," Chuck says.

"Can you please tell him I said thank you when you see him? This probably sounds super cheesy, but I was so glad to see him there."

Reading the chaos of emotions on Leo's face, Chuck finally asks, "Leo, what's really going on? You look like the world's beaten you to a pulp."

"Between almost getting killed, finding out I have a few extra organs, and getting blamed for the truth bombs that dropped tonight, what _isn't_ going on?" Leo exclaims.

Chuck frowns. "Extra organs?"

"Long story short, a medical professional told me I'm not human. Apparently, I have some extra features that a regular person doesn't have," Leo explains. "What's worse is finding out Doc is right: I _am_ adopted. That ticks me off the most. I can't believe there would be a day when I'd say that the crazy guy who stabbed me with a needle was right."

"Ah. So the reason why you called is that your mom told you the truth."

Leo closes his eyes, tired already of thinking. "It was like my day couldn't get any worse."

Chuck checks the date and time on his watch. "Didn't you turn 20 yesterday?"

Leo's head drops low. "It just got worse."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"No. Don't be." Leo takes a deep breath then confesses, "To be honest, I forgot about it, too. These past few years, birthdays have become like any other day to me. I only really remember now because I have to renew my driver's license."

"Does that make you sad?"

Leo thinks about it deeply. Then, he shakes his head. "I do miss feeling special, though. I don't mean just that one day, but being special on some other days of the year, too. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that, right?"

"Right," Chuck says, smiling sadly at him.

"I kinda wish Vanessa and I are on speaking terms," Leo admits. "I miss her being all smirky and factual and surprisingly nice."

Chuck's brows draw together while a smile comes up to his face.

Upon seeing this, Leo huffs. "Don't tell her I complimented her. She'll make fun of me," he says, smirking.

"On the contrary, I think I should," Chuck says, grinning.

The smirk on Leo's face falls slowly – a change that Chuck also subconsciously mimics. "Is she really that mad at me?"

"Sadly she is, kid," he says.

 _Great._ "I don't even know how I can prove to her that it isn't me."

"Well, that may be kind of hard. Vanessa, she's really good at giving people an opportunity to prove themselves when she first meets them. But, once she's convinced that you've done something to break her trust, it's almost always impossible to get her to trust you again." After Leo buries his face in his palms again, he adds, "I'm sorry."

"I feel like my day was an episode out of _Maury_ or something," Leo comments before once again picking up the fragrant tea Chuck gave him.

"Maybe you should turn in for the night," Chuck suggests as Leo sips a little of the drink. "It is a little past two o'clock already. I'm sure you're tired."

"I am," Leo admits. Shyly, he says, "I hope it's all right for me to stay here for the night? There's no way I'm going home. I just don't want to see any of them right now. If you've got a couch I can crash on, that'd be great."

"You don't have to sleep on the couch," Chuck says. "The room where you found those clothes in, you can sleep there tonight."

Leo chuckles out of embarrassment. "I really feel bad dropping in on you like this."

Chuck shakes his head, smiling. "It's always been just me here, especially at nights. It's nice to have a guest for once."

Leo smiles a 'Thanks.'

Chuck nods. He mulls over his next thought for a moment before cautiously offering, "And, when you decide to talk to your family, I've got a line nobody can trace. You can call from there. It's safe."

The weight of the events of two hours ago falls on Leo like an armored tank. The words and the actions and their consequences have churned in his head over and over and over again like a water mill while on the way to Chuck's house, and it seemed to only power the hollow feeling that pulls him under dark and hopeless thoughts.

He's been trying to fight it, to swim against the current, but he's way too tired now. The yield that comes from winning doesn't even look like it would be much. "I have no family," he mutters in defeat.

"Of course you do," Chuck tells him sympathetically. "The woman who raised you, the man who mentored you, and your siblings – they're all your family."

"I want to believe that, Chuck. I really do. But it's hard when all I see are the reasons why it isn't true. They don't care about me, man. My mom, her world is Naomi – which makes sense because she's actually her daughter. And my stepdad, his world is Adam, Bree, and Chase, and Naomi."

Leo shakes his head. "You should've seen how angry they were at me for that serum, something that happened because _Adam_ went into my room without my permission. And they trust Titan Red over me. _Titan Red._ Someone they met not too long ago."

"Wynnford's a really good manipulator," Chuck tries to reason.

"Apparently so is everyone else," Leo says. He sighs. "I'm tired of this. I'm just tired of everything."

Chuck regards him sympathetically, truly feeling sorry for him.

Leo looks at the cup in front of him and sees that there's only half left of the gingery liquid. "What _is_ this stuff? Hot tea isn't my thing, but I can get behind this one," he says.

Chuck laughs. "Nisha gave it to me as a gift. It's a sort of a flower tea, native to her homeland. It's got the same effect as chamomile; it calms ya."

"Did you tell her you're going to give some for me tonight?"

"No."

Leo makes a face. "You should've," he says. "That way, she could've slipped something in here to send me a message of how she feels about me."

Chuck shoots a deadpan stare his way.

Leo nearly chokes on the sip of tea. "Sorry," he tells Chuck. Upon seeing his apology accepted, he says, "What happens to Hangar 72 now? Will you ever get it back?"

"I doubt it," Chuck says. "Frankly, I don't want it back. They probably bugged the place as if they're decorating a Christmas tree."

"I'm—"

"Leo. Seriously. It is _not_ your fault," Chuck says. "I've known it ever since I built it that there's a possibility that one day, it'd be discovered. They'd probably find a couple of information we have on them, which I'm sure they'd use as evidence to really justify pursuing us, but I've got a feeling they'd be too scared to execute it perfectly."

Leo smirks. "That's right. You, Vanessa, and Seo Woo are on the No Fight list."

Chuck smiles. "Yeah. Right. That thing," he says. He shrugs. "I guess it is a sort of protection."

Leo nods. He's seen what just the mention of their names does to superheroes, and in a way that offers him some relief about his friends' futures. "By the way, Vanessa told me to ask you why your place is called Hangar 72," he says. "Why is it called that?"

Chuck grins as memories come with the answer. "It's really a long story, something that," his grins shrinks into a sad smile, "that involves who I was long before I became who I am."

Leo sits up. "I like listening to people's stories."

"Are you sure? You might not like me so much anymore afterwards."

Leo smiles. "Someone asked me earlier if I knew Corvus Black. I told her the truth. I told her I don't, because I only know you."

Chuck smiles appreciatively. After taking a deep breath, he finally relates, "Hangar 72 was supposed to be my, Corvus Black's, hangout. It was about two decades ago, I think. I just got out of jail then, and I had this massive plan of eliminating all superheroes."

"So that's why Super Nova looked freaked out when she mentioned you earlier," Leo says. "You—I mean Corvus Black really did have a plan in place before against them."

Chuck nods. "I was so angry because they managed to put me in jail. I swore to eliminate every single one of them," he says. "And you know what's the worst part? I think I had the means to do it. I was really, really angry, I had the means, and I had all the information I needed. The Hangar would have been my base of operation, and if I carried it through, you would have been brought into this planet in chaos."

"Why did you hate the heroes so much?" Leo asks.

Chuck thinks about it. "I...don't even remember now," he says. "I guess it's because back then, they stood for the things I saw as wrong in my life. I had a pretty miserable childhood, and it was worse when I became a teenager. None of them were ever there when things were going bad in my life so I thought, 'If none of them are good for anything anyways, I might as well get rid of them.'"

He looks at Leo. "That's why I keep teaching Vanessa and Seo Woo to never be so angry at someone that you start hating them. And now, I want to teach you the same thing," Chuck says. "It's all right to be angry at the things that has happened between you and your family, but don't ever let it get to the point that you hate them. I was born to poor parents who hated each other and who hated me, and I was adopted by a filthy rich family who has no love for each other and had less love for me. It scares me to see brilliant kids like you who feels so angry and unloved because I know the damage you can do. So don't be like me, because you might end up doing things you can never take back."

Leo shifts a little in discomfort. He doesn't hate his family, of course, but he also sees how his resentment could lead him there if he doesn't address it. Still, a question bothers him. "What...what exactly did you do?"

An uncomfortable look clouds Chuck's features.

"If you're not comfortable," Leo says quickly, "just forget I—"

"No. You'll probably read it somewhere anyways. Might as well hear it from me," Chuck says. He hesitates a little before saying, "I'm...known...in the superhero world for that one dinner event that I successfully infiltrated. There were about a little over a hundred superheroes and League Agents there that night. I, uh, put something in the drinks, and, uh...many of them died."

"Oh man," Leo says, shocked by the picture his tale creates. "Chuck."

"I regret it now, so much," Chuck confesses. "There's nothing I can do to bring them back to life."

Leo's chest wrings at the sight of devastation on Chuck's face. It's not hard to see how honestly, brutally crushed his friend is at the memory of it all. He wants to comfort him, but how does he do it?

"They hunted me down for such a long time after that," Chuck continues. "And when they caught me, I knew they wanted to kill me right on the spot. Why wouldn't they? I took away their friends, their family members, and the people they respected. But at the time, it made me feel great to see them so miserable. I was even laughing when they handcuffed me because I knew their values prohibited them from doing what it was they wanted to do.

"But then, I was angry again. I hated them for putting me behind bars, hated them for bragging about catching me and telling people they were safe from me, as if I was dead. So I got in touch with my lawyer, this brilliant guy who could get you out of jail no matter what you did, and I plotted. I plotted to get them back for the humiliation and, to be honest, just because I didn't like them."

Leo frowns when a small smile slowly emerges on Chuck's face after a moment. "Then what happened?" he prompts.

"Then the start of Hangar 72 happened," Chuck says.

"What do you mean?"

"I met these two guys while I was in jail. James and Cory were their names. James was older than I was, but Cory was a lot younger, probably in his 20s then. I met them when I was transported to some jail in this one country; can't even remember where it was now. I think the League of Superheroes did that to scare me, or maybe even in hopes of getting me caught in a fight that would get rid of me permanently, which was a bit pathetic of an attempt considering many of the inmates knew me.

"Anyway, there I was, stewing in prison, and then I noticed the two of them. They kind of made me curious because there they were, same as me, but they looked happy. It kinda surprised me, too, to find out that some of the inmates and even some of the guards are friendly with them. At first, I thought they were same as me. You know, maybe my rivals. But after asking around, I found out that they were just civilians.

"One day, at lunch, they ended up in the same table as me. They were...friendly. And happy. It's not hard to see that life in there still took some toll on them, but all in all they looked happy. I learned they were there because of some religious thing, so at first I thought they were just some nut jobs," Chuck says, laughing. He shrugs. "They tried to talk to me – well, James did; Cory was a shy little guy back then. I ignored him. James tried again, and I stayed the same, and eventually he realized that I didn't want to be friends with him.

"But they were still nice. It was really annoying to me at first because I thought no one could be that nice without having an ulterior motive. Worse yet, their attitude was making me curious. They were good people, and I didn't want to _know_ good people.

"Eventually, though, they got to me. We were out in the yard one day, and the next thing I know I'm listening to James talk about his family and his friends." The smile on Chuck's face increases in brightness. "I wouldn't admit it at the time, but I became his friend, too. I kept my distance but – I spent some time just listening to them. I guess I did because I just felt they were genuine. I also wanted to figure out why they were okay going to jail for something that they believed in. I mean, I was really convinced they were crazy.

"But one thing that I now understand, that I now realize, is that I hung around them because they...they were loved. By whatever God it is they serve, by their families, by their friends. It made me really curious because I've never seen that before." Chuck shrugs. "I don't think I'll ever get into religion, but still. I saw what I saw. And I saw good. It is what it is."

Leo smiles. "Yeah."

Chuck takes a deep breath. "They were released some months later, though," he continues. "They promised to visit me again, and some years ago I found out that they did try to visit me, but before they came back the League moved me again. It didn't take long until I was back to hating the heroes and being angry.

"It was a pretty long process to get me out, and my lawyer had to blackmail so many people just to get them to even set a bail on me, but I did get out," Chuck says. "That's when I started all these plans of building the Hangar as my base of operation. I had pretty much everything I needed against the heroes thanks to the people working under me at the time. I've never had any problems with resources because I had sequestered all the money that the family who adopted me had. I still had the anger, the hatred. I was ready to destroy.

"But then one day, while I was imagining how I would eliminate Black Sahara, I realized that all of that, it will never end. Hatred is voracious: it just feeds and feeds and feeds and feeds and will never be content. And I wondered, how much more of my life was I willing to spend on that? It didn't make me happy. It gave me some satisfaction to see other people be more miserable than I was, but then I realized that maybe even that was just in my imagination. It wasn't long after until it came to me that I was at a crossroad: I can carry out my plan, which I know will succeed again, or I can end it right there, right before anger consumes me until the day I die."

Leo smiles. "And you chose the right one."

Chuck nods. "Thankfully, because now I sleep just a bit better at night," he says.

"How did the others find you?"

"That's kind of a tricky question." Chuck's features wrinkle into a frown as he broods over it. "I don't really know how they found out. Word of mouth, I guess? Doc was the very first person who found me. There were a few others who came, some of whom didn't come back after their heroes caught them. After about a year of the Hangar being up, I got some disturbing information about a gifted little boy in South Korea who's being hounded down by some gang because of his abilities." He smiles knowingly. "Doc and I teamed up to rescue him and bring him here to America. Corvus Black adopted him, and news about that scared the gang away forever."

Leo gapes. "Seo Woo is your son?!"

Chuck shrugs. "Technically, but he prefers to think of me as his mentor," he says. "Uh, after that, there's one person who turned out to be some young superhero who, at one point, almost told the League about us. But then she saw how bad things are getting even with the superheroes, particularly after Titan Red came into the scene, and she decided to leave us and keep it a secret." He smiles. "Can you guess who it is? You've heard of her."

Leo frowns. "Super Nova?"

"No."

"Right. She didn't like you." Leo thinks. "Solar Flare?"

Chuck shakes his head. "Lady Windsor."

"The lady that Tin Can badmouthed?"

"Exactly," Chuck says, grinning. "Jess was an intelligent, resourceful girl. She still is. She's so smart. I don't even know how she found out about the Hangar, but she did. I think that's why Seo Woo was ticked off after hearing what Titan Red said on that video. He still respects her after all these years."

Leo smiles mischievously. "She was his first crush, wasn't she?"

"I'll neither confirm nor deny that."

However, from the chuckle that precedes that, Leo can tell that the answer was yes. At that he grins.

"By the way, I heard that you had a thing for Skylar Storm?" Chuck carefully asks.

Leo huffs. "What is it with you guys and asking about me and Skylar? Are we really that interesting?"

"Just a bit. It's kind of adorable."

"You...think we're adorable?"

"Yeah," Chuck responds, confused by his response. "I could see that working out. She seems to trust you a lot, and you seem to trust her, too. You're both good-looking kids."

Leo smiles, appreciative of the compliment. "Yeah, well, Amai doesn't seem to think we're a good match. She says the probability of us being together is near down the dumps."

"Well, in the profession of abilities, power, and heroics and villainy, nothing's for certain," Chuck says.

Leo doesn't have to ask what he means. It's become clear to him that his and Skylar's paths are meant to diverge some time in the future, some time before they can really get to know one another. "So, when did Vanessa come to the Hangar?" he digresses.

"Uh, maybe about eight, seven years ago? She was fairly young when we took her in."

"I'm guessing she lived here with you for a while?"

"That she did."

"I could tell. She thinks so highly of you."

"Yeah, well..."

"So," Leo continues, "Amai and then Nisha?"

"You got it," Chuck says. "There's another person."

 _Another person?_ "Me?"

"Yeah you."

Leo sits up and thinks about it for a moment. "Well, I guess I _am_ included since I ate a lot at your place."

"You ate so much that I wondered just how much they feed you at home," Chuck jokes. He then slides the manila folder he brought earlier towards Leo.

"What's this?"

"I've been doing research of my own for you," Chuck explains. "Doc had some pretty weird theories of what you actually are that I got annoyed and decided to do this."

"Let me guess: he's insisting I'm some kind of worm alien coming from the future."

"Close, but with Doc you've gotta get weirder," Chuck says.

Leo's eyes carefully goes over the photocopy of old file reports and a few photographs of a wide farmland hosting stunted sprouts of crops and patches of snow. There were men and women in there, too, garbed in suits with the same insignia he saw on top of the Superhero Network's Heroes and Villains list. They were looking at something, maybe a crash site, but it's hard to tell what's really happening in the picture. "I don't really understand this," he admits.

"About two decades ago, there was a bit of a scare both for the heroes and the villains," Chuck relates. "The pictures that you're looking at are from the crash site. Back then, we weren't really familiar with beings from other planets. There were a few here and there, but there aren't as many as there are now. That's why back then, both sides kind of went berserk whenever spaceships show up; we never really know what it would be that would come out."

Leo looks closer at one of the pictures, and on the side he sees an outline of a ship. "So my guess is that they did find out what was in there."

"Yes, and no." At Leo's frown, Chuck explains, "The LoS Agents knew it was someone from outside the planet, no doubt. But the person wasn't there. What made everyone more nervous is that the technology in the ship, _of_ the ship, is unlike we've ever seen before. It's so advanced. There were docks for what looked to be weapons, and they were empty.

"The being, for lack of a better word, wouldn't have even been found if not for her causing a commotion at a convenience store a year later."

" _She?_ It was a woman?"

Chuck nods. "She looks exactly like a human," he confirms. "But, she didn't fight like one. Some drug dealers mistook her for a competitor and were going to squash her out, but she took them down. Or up. The witnesses said those guys were flying."

"She was really strong."

"And inhumanly fast. My guess is that wherever she came from, she was a warrior," Chuck says.

 _Status: Missing._ Leo checks the notes at the end of the report. _Updated May 2016._ "Where is she now?"

Chuck sighs, and there on his face a shadow of something morose comes over. "My guess is that she's dead." He nods at the report. "Look at who it was that had her in his charge before she went missing."

Leo scans through the boxes. Immediately, he finds it. He huffs. "Unbelievable," he exclaims. "Tin Can's been a dirt bag ever since, hasn't he?"

"He's one of the skeletons the League of Superheroes have in their closet."

"Just one of them?"

"If you know what some of us know, you might just lose your respect for them altogether," Chuck says. "That's why you should take in information like this one at a time. That way, you'll remain aware of the reality that not all of them are bad."

Leo shakes his head. He's reminded of what Skylar said to her teammates about the negative changes in their team, and suddenly he thinks that things must be worse on the bigger scale than he thought. "Why would he do this to her? Did she tick him off?"

"He probably just didn't like the fact that she was stronger than he was."

"What a piece of garbage," Leo says in disgust. "What is it with him and women?"

Chuck shrugs. "His brain is not a place I want to be in."

"He probably has all kinds of shrines for himself in there." Leo shivers in distaste. "Ugh. Why does he even call himself a hero?" He continues to look through the pictures as he asks, "I noticed they left the species part blank."

"Up to this day they don't know what she is."

Leo pauses. " _They_ don't."

"Mm-hm."

"But _you_ do."

Chuck smiles. "The perks of having someone with omnilingualism in your family," he says.

"I guess there's a reason why big bro's number seven."

The mentor chuckles. "I got someone on the inside send me a few key artifacts for research. Since it's a cold case, it was easy for him to send me the things."

"You have someone inside the League of Superheroes working for you?"

"Not working. I just asked him as a favor."

Leo smirks. "I like the way you think."

Chuck grins. He points to the pictures of objects that had been taken at a lab. "The control panel of the ship revealed that it has the capacity to jump from one point in space to another – kind of like a shortcut portal."

"Whoa. Really?"

"Yes. And when I consulted with Nisha about this about two weeks ago, she said it would've served the crew, or in this case the sole captain of the ship, well," Chuck says. "Nisha's very knowledgeable with different species living in other planets."

"What, is she an ex-LoS agent or something?"

Chuck shakes his head. "Even now the League doesn't know as much as she knows," he says. "Anyway, she said that she suspects that the woman originated from a planet some billions of lightyears away."

"She came from that far away?!"

"Yeah. Sadly, upon research, I found out that the planet has long been gone. One of the stars in its system collapsed, and the black hole it created sucked it in."

"That's sad..."

"Yeah. Even if she survived, there's no more home to go back to," Chuck says.

Though saddened by the outcome of the woman, Leo couldn't help but ask, "But, what does she have to do with me?"

A serious expression gradually dawns on Chuck's face. He reaches for the folder, lays out a few key pictures, and then explains, "On one of her earlier logs, Seo Woo caught her talking about a rebellion. She talked about her trip to the future, to some faraway planet, as a lesson to someone. She took something, and it seems that she counted on it as her security."

"Did she steal a power source or something? Maybe a weapon?" He grins. "The crown?"

"She stole a baby."

Leo's grin falls.

"Seo Woo was surprised to see some of the patterns in your coding because it's so similar to the one found on several gadgets of the ship," Chuck says. "It's easy to think of it as a coincidence, but there are other things that convince me that our suspicion could be right. You are who she stole."

"Wait," Leo says, holding up a hand. "This is a little too much, man. I can't..."

The first question he has is, this is ridiculous – which is not a question at all, but in this situation it might as well be. The second question he has is, is this really viable? What are the chances that things like these, that history like this, involves him? "There must be a mistake," he thinks aloud.

"It's possible," Chuck concedes. "But Leo, there are more checkmarks in this theory than there are exes."

Leo thinks about it. Again, he looks at the pictures at the crash site. Now, with all of the information given to him, there's something in them that jumps out at him more: the farms are located by a state route.

 _He told me the police found a baby in a ditch, at the side of some road,_ his mother's tearful confession replays in his mind. But how come the League Agents didn't find him? "If it was me, then shouldn't the League have connected me to her by now? My mom – or maybe not-my-mom – told me that the police found me in some ditch, which is pretty depressing but..." He shrugs. "If the police found me the same night."

"Maybe they didn't. Maybe she made sure to take you to a place so far away from the site that whoever could connect the incidences would never connect it. You were her weapon. A warrior like her would make sure that her ace against the people she was running away from would never find you."

Leo sighs, more tired now than he's ever been the whole day. "So you're saying that, I actually have a family somewhere out there, who probably wanted me, but they died billions of years ago, and now I'm stuck here in this planet without a chance of ever knowing what I am and where I came from."

"For the most part," Chuck says apologetically. "I'm really sorry."

"Yeah. Probably not as sorry as I am, but..."

"If it helps, the additional information I have that supports our theory could give you some insight in what will happen to you soon."

Leo groans. "Please don't tell me I'll turn into some weird-looking thing from outer space," he says. "Because in that case, I'll just jump back into a ditch somewhere."

"No, you won't," Chuck says, smiling. He takes out a sheet of paper from the pile, the information on it mostly handwritten. "Her species are known to go through a change."

"Okay, a second go at puberty will actually be worse."

"It's nothing like that," Chuck assures, grinning. He taps on the paper. "Nisha believes that they go through what is called a Quarterly."

"A Quarterly?"

Chuck nods. "It begins when a person reaches the age of 20."

Leo's eyes widen. "My age."

Chuck nods again. "The first thing they develop are physical defensive mechanisms, which is where your immunity to Vanessa's ability falls into."

"I can heal pretty quickly, too."

Chuck gestures to him with open palms; it's another evidence. "A Quarterly is a five-year process where a person develops all kinds of abilities. By the time he or she reaches the age of twenty-five, the person will have a wide range of skills that would prove helpful to them. My guess is that it's to help the individual live their life on their planet, something that, while amazing to us is probably commonplace to them."

"You think I'll be capable of doing greater things?" Leo asks.

"I _know_ you are. You will be part of something bigger that I don't think you're even aware of."

Leo frowns. "Like what?"

Chuck blinks, the warmth in his eyes clearing due to a realization. He looks like how his stepfather looked a few years ago when he remembered he left the stove on at home. Before drawing more suspicion, though, he covers it up with a smile, "Your inventions, for one. They'll bring about great things."

However, that cover up isn't convincing enough. "Oh," Leo just says, letting it go for now.

Chuck gets up from the couch with a groan. "Now, I don't know about you," he says, "but it's way past my bed time..."

"Right."

"...and it's hard for old people like me to stay awake." Chuck grins at him. "I can't keep up with young folks like you anymore, even if my mind says I can."

Leo chuckles. His eyes widen in fear when something occurs to him. "My arm," he says. "What if my stepdad has turned on the GPS on this?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. I prepared for it," Chuck waves it away. "All they'll see in their log is that you vanished at the corner of Ruby and Trindle."

Leo easily imagines how freaked out his parents would be. "They'll be worried."

Chuck smiles. "Do you want me to have someone take you back?"

Leo shakes his head. "I won't be able to sleep there."

"Okay. Just tell me when you're ready to go," Chuck says. "Sleep well tonight. If you need some snacks before you go to bed, you're free to get whatever you want from the fridge. Breakfast is at 9:30 tomorrow."

Leo smiles. "Thanks, Chuck."

Chuck nods. "Please leave that file on the table. If it leaves the house, it'd be an even bigger problem for us all."

"Noted," Leo says.

Chuck smiles. "Good night, Leo."

Leo nods. "Good night, Chuck. See you tomorrow."

As Chuck leaves, Leo turns his attention to the rain still pouring down outside. There's not a star in sight tonight. After a few minutes, he finishes his now cold tea, closes the folder, and finally heads to his room for the night in hopes of a long and dreamless sleep.

* * *

 _Next: Chapter Twenty-Two - Still Your Family_


	22. Still Your Family

_Thanks to AGW and Cinnybun for your reviews!_

 _As I told AGW, this is one of my favorite chapters out of this whole story. Just a word of caution, though: this chapter, especially towards the end, will not be very easy to read. Won't spoil anything, so just beware._

 _Other than that, hope you enjoy._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two

 _ **Still Your Family**_

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The world outside the car window moves in fast forward. Cars and metal railings and a few occasional trees melt into a pleasant blur that's not half bad to watch. But the blue skies of the morning, it remains constant. It moves in its own pace, in a pleasant speed, probably because it's so vast that it doesn't see the need to hurry into someone's field of vision.

It's all a stark contrast to how things were last night.

Leo spots a movement in his periphery and dares (a little) to glance. When he sees that his stepfather's just turning up the cold air in the car, he refocuses his full attention to the outside spectacle again.

For what must be the seventh time that trip, a heavier, awkward feeling form in the air. Donald lightly clears his throat. "Are you..." —he hesitates for a few seconds— "Are you sure you're not hungry?"

The quick answer is: yes. Chuck made a pretty good breakfast for him before The Glare picked him up this morning, and he ate while he waited at the McDonald's the not-a-serial-killer taxi driver dumped him to.

But he's not in the mood to talk, so he waits until he counts five cars before saying, "I'm sure."

It's childish, he knows, but he's doing it so he doesn't get dragged into a conversation he's not ready to have yet.

To his relief, their friend, Silence, who has accompanied them for what must already be more than half their travel, comes back.

But he doesn't stay for long. "Where'd you stay last night?" his stepfather asks.

Leo checks the time on his phone, its screen now shattered after Rolando's overzealous version of 'dismantling it' as Chuck asked. A little under an hour before they reach home. He guesses an actual conversation will have to happen. "Got a friend in Oakland. You know, hung out there for a while, had a good time," Leo says evenly into the window. "Then we took the party all the way up to Amber and was at it until we passed out."

"Leo," his stepfather says. There is a warning, and also a hint of fear, in his tone.

It only brings back the argument from last night. "Adam's right. They're not the best friends to have, but they're just so fun, you know?" Leo answers brazenly, turning a little to face his stepfather better. He fakes a smile. "They just have the stuff to make you feel special."

"Please, Leo. Enough," Donald asks. "I don't want to hear anymore."

Leo sees how tight his stepfather grips the steering wheel, and immediately he feels sorry. He backs down and nestles towards the door. Why did he even think he can do this? _You're too nice to be a villain,_ he hears Vanessa's voice in the back of his head. And she's right. What she told him before is true.

Still, a pool of disappointment spreads within him. "You really believed what I said," he mutters. He looks at the bright blue skies above. "That's sad."

Through his periphery, he catches his stepfather glancing at him, probably in confusion.

"I did stay with a friend's family, but their home is there in Amber," Leo explains. "I pretty much just crashed when I got there. Talked a little bit with their dad, and then I went to sleep."

"Your trail. It vanished a few blocks away from the house."

"I got on a spaceship."

Donald huffs a little. However, it's forceful enough that Leo instinctively glances at him out of caution.

As he gauges his stepfather's temperament, it's only then that he notices the dark circles under his eyes. He probably hasn't slept yet. _Looking for me._ And because of that, all the disappointment and resentment melt even for just that point in time. "You should get some sleep when we get to the house, Big D," he mutters. "I doubt the Elite Force is in any hurry to speak to one another. Before dinner might not be so bad."

Donald sighs. "I'll get the sleep I need after we finish settling a few things," he says, and through it Leo can tell that his sarcastic answer from earlier has been forgiven.

Which is comforting, but he doesn't know that he wants it. "Just let it dissolve," Leo suggests (requests?) "They won't come back together anyways."

"We'll discuss about it," his stepfather assures, which, to Leo, comes across as, 'We'll take care of our own business.'

 _Fair enough,_ Leo thinks.

Donald drives down the interstate for a few quiet minutes before he speaks again. "Your mom was so worried about you," he comments.

He said it so softly that Leo almost felt sorry. He turns away before he changes his mind.

"She didn't get any sleep last night either."

"Well, then, she should also get some rest," Leo suggests detachedly. "She has to go back to work soon, and Naomi needs her."

"She was worried about you," Donald tries again.

"She shouldn't. I've been fine taking care of myself. I'm grown." Leo looks at him straight. "I turned 20 yesterday, you know."

Leo doesn't know what hurts more: actively shutting his stepfather out or seeing that look in his eyes that confirm they did forget what day yesterday was. "Leo, I'm really sorry," Donald says.

"That's all right. I wasn't even really born on that day," Leo says to the door. He ponders over that truth for a bit. If the warrior really did bring him there, he must have been at least a few days old. And with the travel, he won't be surprised if it added a week on him.

Or maybe not. Chuck did say the ship had an amazingly advanced technology that allowed it to breeze through time and space.

Still, the eventuality of that trip is difficult to stomach: the small, tiny, baby version of himself crying his lungs out in a muddy ditch somewhere as snow thawed on the ground. He doesn't even know whether to feel sorry or feel angry.

As if to add to that, Donald says, "Your mom is devastated. I'm sure she didn't want you to find out that way."

"I'm sure she didn't."

"It's just..." Donald, with a slight shake of the head, trails off at that.

Leo takes a deep breath then releases it as he lifts his eyes up to the sky.

Donald mistakes it as a sigh. "I'm not blaming you for it," Donald assures cautiously.

"Hm. Why the change of mind?"

"I just didn't mean what I said to come across as me saying it was your fault," Donald says, and from the slight rise in the tone of his voice Leo can detect a building frustration. Donald maneuvers around a red Tahoe. "It's just..."

"You feel bad?"

Donald glances at him, his eyes guilt-ridden. "I'm really sorry, Leo."

Leo lets the words sit out for a bit. He mulls over it meanwhile. Then, he concludes wearily, "I deserved it."

His stepfather glances again at him, no doubt worriedly this time.

In all honestly, Leo can't take it. It irritates him more than anything. "Just want to let you know in advance, I'm going to miss the pre-dinner lecture," he says flatly. "My ride is coming some time around 4. I'm not going to make it."

"Your ride?" his stepfather repeats.

"My friend's dad," Leo says, watching the flock of birds cruising high above. "I'm staying with them for a while."

"What?!"

Leo's heart seizes a beat when the car swerves a little. In retrospect, he could've softened that news a tad bit. He's ticked, but he does want to live.

"Leo, you can't just leave!" Donald says.

Leo's eyes are still glued on the road. It's only then he noticed that he had tensed up. So, after making sure that they were never really in any immediate danger, he takes a breath and eases back on his seat.

"Shouldn't we talk about this?" Donald insists obliviously.

"There's nothing to talk about," Leo says factually.

"But what about us? What about your sister? What about your mom?"

"What about them? All of you are doing just fine."

Donald scoffs. "How will _you_ leaving make us fine?"

Leo shrugs lackadaisically. "Well, for one, you won't have a troublemaker in your house anymore. And for another, you've got one less mouth to feed."

"Leo. Come on."

"I mean, if it will really bother everyone, just pretend I'm on vacation." Unable to resist, he adds in a mutter, "In three days you'll forget I was gone at all."

Donald, however, hears him. He shoots him a look, one that conveys hurt. "That's not fair."

"It may not be fair, but that doesn't mean it isn't true," Leo says to the window.

Leo doesn't know what his stepfather does in that episode of radio silence that follows. Glaring at him, probably, or maybe some worried glances. He probably refocuses back on the road. Whatever it may be, he remains unaware of it. It's not really information he needs to know.

Eventually, he hears a sigh from the driver's seat. "You have to talk to us, Leo."

"Why?"

"Because this is something we have to talk about," Donald patiently reasons. "You're angry at us. I can see that now. How do you expect us to be at peace if you leave without giving us a chance to figure this out?"

"Talking won't change a thing."

"It could."

"It won't."

And truly, it won't. Leo's resolved to never change his mind about leaving. If he is to find peace, at least enough to help him sort through all the information that dogpiled on him over the course of a few days, he needs to get out of the house.

He's talked to Chuck at length about it. Though slightly reluctant, even the older man agreed that it was a valid reason.

After a stretch of thoughtful silence, Donald asks, "Well, can you at least tell us the address of your friend's house?"

"Why? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of me leaving?"

"What if there's an emergency?"

"What, like Chase being kidnapped by villains? You want to know where to reach me so I can be your tech gopher again so we can locate your golden child and live happily ever after after that?"

Donald's mouth screws shut.

Leo can easily tell that he does so out of frustration, like the one from earlier, but also now out of anger. That only builds his own anger more. He told Chuck he won't let it go too far, yet just at that conversation, just at that car ride back to the house alone, he's already going above his limit.

He forces himself to face the world outside in hopes of calming down even just for a bit. If he is to successfully leave, he's going to have to thicken his skin a lot more than this. Hours from now, he's going to have to face a crying mother, siblings all talking to him at the same time, telling him not to go (or maybe telling him to go and be the selfish person he is; he doesn't care), and a stepfather watching him in disappointment.

It's gonna be tough so he has to work at having a greater calm within to weather the storms without.

He looks up at the sky, and for a moment he thinks of his real mother, whoever she might be, and how much she would have loved him. Would she be sad to see him at a loss of control over his life and even his own emotions? Quietly, sadly, he takes a breath. "I'll call every few days, if you care about that sort of thing," he mumbles.

Donald says nothing, and somehow that hurts Leo more.

They drive down the interstate for what must be a quarter of an hour without talking. Leo's slowly falling asleep (he's still feeling the effects of the mission from yesterday) when his stepfather says, "I really failed at this parenting thing with you, didn't I?"

He blinks awake and for a moment wonders if he's dreamed that. He looks at his stepfather to confirm that it's all just an illusion, but on his features he finds a smile of disappointment.

Donald turns to him, and for a moment the disappointment turns into a sincere apology. "I just figured, 'Everyone else is doing fine. Maybe all of the kids are just fine, too,' you know?"

"Don't do this," Leo says, already displeased with the attempt and even more displeased that he got woken up just for this.

"Well, I – I don't think I'll really get a chance to say that later on," Donald explains. "I think it may be a little bit chaotic when everyone finds out you're planning to leave."

"Then maybe I should change my plan."

"Like...?"

"I'll leave earlier," Leo says, not wanting to give him any false hopes. "All the things I need are pretty much ready anyway. All I need are clothes."

"Leo—"

"I'm not staying," Leo says. "Don't waste your breath anymore, Big D. Nothing you can say will change my mind."

"Even if I tell you I care a lot about you?"

Leo scoffs. "Especially if you tell me that."

"Why?"

"Because it's just going to be a lie."

"But the truth serum hasn't worn out yet, at least not entirely." Donald smiles a small smile at him, even if he's not looking. "I can't lie to you."

Leo could laugh. Hearing that makes him angry and miserable and feel stupid and annoyed all at once. He never should have called him this morning after seeing his 51 text messages and 23 voicemails. He should never have felt sorry. He should've just had Rolando drop him off at home, sneak in, get the stuff he needs, and sneak back out.

Having The Glare fume at him in silence for hours is definitely far better than his stepfather trying to convince him of an illusion. "Like I said, don't waste your breath anymore on me," he says. "It'd probably be better saved for your superhero team."

"I thought you said I should just let them dissolve."

"You should. But, you know, I don't think they're done blaming each other yet. You're gonna need to save all your energy for refereeing that."

Donald's eyes remain on the road, but there is a shadow of conceding on it.

Unable to help himself, Leo adds quietly, "Don't ask Skylar to join if she doesn't want to. She's just gonna get verbally pummeled again."

Donald glances at him. He smiles at the road ahead. "Do you like Skylar?"

Leo laughs humorlessly. For a moment, he's reminded of Chuck. "I'm not fourteen anymore, Big D. We don't get to have conversations like this anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because things have changed," Leo says. At that, the grin on his stepfather's face falters. He checks the clock on the dashboard and sees that they're only 20 minutes away from home. _Like he said, chaos once we get home._ "My real parents – they're dead," he tells him. "They died a long time ago. The place where I came from, it's gone. So if you really do care about me like you say you do, maybe you can do one last thing for me: don't tell the family I'm leaving."

Donald looks at him, horrified. "But...They'll see you with your bags—"

"You'll be surprised how fast I can walk out of there," Leo says, smirking out the window. Then, thoughtfully he adds, "But it may not be so easy if they get a forewarning."

"I can't do that," Donald firmly tells him. "What do you think your mother will say to me when she found out I let you go?"

"She's not my mother."

"Can you just stop this?" Donald snaps.

"Stop what?" Leo sits up, rising to the fight.

"This! This shutting us out and just leaving us when you need us the most!"

"And if I do, what are you gonna do about it?" Leo asks, his tone having risen as high and as loud as his stepfather's. "It's not like you care anyways! If Chase is in danger, if Bree is in danger, if _Adam_ is in danger, _I_ become collateral damage. I was only ever a priority within the first two years you and Mom are married. But now that you've got Naomi, you don't need some deadweight stepkid to cement your wife by your side anymore. Your own kid can do that for you."

Donald's grip on the steering wheel tightened considerably.

Leo sees it. "Yeah. Just pull over and punch me in the face already. I know that's what you've been itching to do," he says, courageous yet disheartened at the same time. "Then just leave me here. That's what you should've done a long time ago anyways instead of taking me to that island."

At that, all the anger boiling inside Donald simmers into vapor, but Leo doesn't see it. He's too preoccupied with watching the world outside and envying the birds flying far high up the sky. "Is this where this all started? The island?" Donald asks.

Leo doesn't answer.

Donald takes a deep breath, readjusts his grip on the steering wheel as he thinks.

"Don't bother," Leo says right as Donald opens his mouth to speak. "I really don't care."

Donald closes his mouth and recalibrates his thoughts. Then, "If I had known all of that would have led to this, I would have had you help your siblings instead of forcing you to be a student."

"You still don't get it." Leo scoffs. "A hero? What a joke." For a moment, he stews in his anger and ever building resentment. Soon enough, though, he realizes that he tires of it. _This is so dumb._ "Nobody has any obligation to me. I'm not some child left in some ditch anymore. Just let me go."

"You really that determined to abandon us?"

"I'm not abandoning anyone, just finally leaving the family I've apparently been leeching off from all these years. Doesn't that make you happy?"

Donald glances at him, frowning. "You're not a leech."

"Yeah, well, your kids seem to think so. To them I'm just supposed to serve them, like I'm some black house help that only gets called when the young masters need me."

"Hey."

"Don't tell me it's not true." Leo looks at Donald defiantly. "After all, you're the one who does the calling."

It's not hard to see that those words horrified his stepfather. He's looking out to the road, but his eyes are blank and his face is drained of color. The gears of his brain spin to process everything, that much is evident.

However, Leo doesn't watch any longer to find out what conclusion the machine that is his mind will spit out.

Donald sighs. "Leo, I really don't know what to say at this point."

"Don't gotta say anything."

 _Change of plan,_ Leo texts Chuck. _I can't stay in the house til 4. Had an argubent w\ my stepdad. It's gonna be a bigger prblems if I don't jumps ship immedialte. Wil tkae a cab there instead._ He presses send.

After a moment, he rereads the message again. He rolls his eyes. Great. He really must be super frustrated. The amount of typos in that text is nearly record-breaking.

 _I need to chill a little,_ he thinks.

"Do you remember," Donald suddenly speaks, "when Tasha and I were dating, and she first introduced me to the family?" The small smile on his face grows a little more, and it raises Leo's suspicion just as much. "Rose was just...darting daggers at me. If looks could kill, right? And Janice, she said hi but she avoided me like the plague after that. It was really awkward, those first fifteen minutes. Tasha keeps telling me you were almost home, but – it just felt like you'll never get there."

Donald laughs. "Then you came in through the door, and like Rose you had this untrusting look in your eyes even when Tasha told you I was the one she's been telling you about, the one she's been seeing for, what? Was that two months already? Then you gave me a pop quiz. Do you remember what you asked?"

Does he remember what he asked? That was seven years ago! He can't even remember what it is exactly that he was doing three days ago.

"You said, 'Okay, Don. If you really are the science big shot you claim you are in your profile, answer me this: what's the Gaian Bottleneck hypothesis?'" Donald chuckles heartily. "It took me a really long while to think about that. I've read so many research papers, and just that day alone we had at least one big study we were conducting at the company. My brain was all mush at that point, you know? I was kind of a nervous wreck, too.

"Then, thankfully, by the time we were at dinner, it came to me. I was just so excited when I realized what it was," Donald says. He looks at him after exiting the Interstate then stopping at a red light. "Do you remember what I told you?"

Leo looks away. He does remember.

"'It's a theory that Earth, of all the planets in the universe that can host life, is the only one that survived. We can't communicate with other life forms because they don't exist anymore,'" Donald repeats the answer from his memory, savoring the sweet, happy feelings that come with it. "Then, you had this big smile on your face, and suddenly it felt like I've won something big. I asked you if you believed it, just to keep the conversation going, and you said you don't. You said—"

 _The reason why we can't communicate with life on other planets is because our technology is not far-reaching enough to get any kinds of message to them,_ Leo recites his answer from memory as his stepfather says it out loud. _At least, it's not far reaching enough yet._

"And you told me that your dream is to invent something to make that happen one day," Donald says, grinning. "I knew from then that you're a brilliant kid, with an open mind that will take you places. And I just thought, you know, 'This is awesome.' If things were to work with your mom and I, I'll have a chance of helping a smart kid bring to life this great idea that could just change history."

"And surprise, surprise: the idea is useless," Leo says lackadaisically. "There's no need for it anymore because apparently, there really are other beings out there." _One that includes me._

Donald smiles sadly. "It doesn't change the fact that you aimed for something that only a few others aimed for," he says. He sighs. "I guess I got so angry with some of the things you said because there is some truth behind it. As soon as your mom and I got married, you know, and after you discovered Adam, Bree, and Chase, I thought you'd be fine on your own. I don't need to work so hard anymore in impressing you because, well, almost everything in the house is enough to keep you engaged.

"I guess...I guess I didn't really pay so close of an attention to you, too, because...well, because no matter what happens, you always turn up all right," Donald says, smiling. "No matter what comes our way, I knew you would be okay. Your older siblings, they—I'm always worried about them because I didn't know what was going to happen. They were always in danger of dying, of never coming back. I just...With all the almosts – with Marcus, with Krane, with Giselle, I don't know. My concern for Adam, Bree, and Chase just grew a lot more because I couldn't imagine seeing them dead in front of me, especially as I think of how it felt like holding them in my arms when they were babies and telling them they were safe with me."

"Yeah, I guess that's fair," Leo says. "Better to bury someone else's kid than your own son, right? Totally makes sense. Especially knowing that it's actually just some random somebody's kid? Ooh, man."

"Leo, I promise you, I didn't know about that either," Donald says. "I was as surprised as you were."

"Doubt it."

"Okay, maybe as surprised as everyone else was," Donald patiently amends. "What I'm trying to say is, we can sit here all day and go through the things I did wrong as a father. But the fact of the matter is, there's nothing I can do now to change those mistakes, no matter how much I regret it. I can't go back in time. All I have is now.

"Leo, no matter how much you want to push us away, we're not just going to detach away from you. You're adopted. So what? Does that make your mom's love for you any less real because you didn't come from her?"

Donald shakes his head. "As far as this divide between you and Bree and Chase, we're going to have to address that together, one day, when you're all ready," he says. "But right now...Right now I want you to know that I...I love you. Very much. I haven't been around as long as your mom had been, but I care a lot about you. You don't understand, Leo. Ever since your mother said 'I do,' ever since you stepped into the house, you became a part of me. To me, you _are_ my son. I love you like you came from me and your mother, too.

"I don't want you to leave because I want another chance," Donald asks. "I want to be a part of your life even more now that you've reached your 20s. I wanna be there when you get Girlfriend Number 2. I wanna be there, drinking with you when you have your first beer or Jack Daniel's or scotch. I wanna celebrate with you when you graduate college. And, one day, I want to be there when you get married, probably to Girlfriend Number 2.

"I want to be there, Leo. I want to be in your life and be the father that I just...wasn't for you," Donald says. "Is a chance to change things too much to ask?"

Leo turns his face as far away from Donald as possible because he doesn't want him to see the tears teasing in his eyes. He wipes it discreetly with the back of his wrist and pretends they never existed at all.

 _I love you._ He hasn't heard those words in such a long time. Sure, his mother tells him that every few nights or so, and at times his stepfather did, too, but those I love yous were meaningless. Empty shells in an empty house. They were as hollow and perfunctory as the Goodnights that it followed.

But now – now here these words are in front of him, packed and pressed and overflowing with the things he needed most, and it chokes him up because he just realizes how starved he is of those.

It's been a long, long time since somebody cared enough to tell him he is loved.

Still, he decides that calling a truce for that one reason isn't practical. He softly clears his throat and sits up. He wipes the tears in his eyes and prepared for another round. "Titan Red was right: I do know them," he decides to play his last ace. "Corvus Black – I know him."

"What?"

"I know him and a few other villains on that list," Leo says. "Super Nova wasn't entirely wrong. They know everything – all of the plans, all the changes in the future – because I've been telling them everything. I pretty much gave them everything they needed. And the card, with the seven – they have that, too."

"You gave it to them?" Donald asks, slowly, carefully, disbelievingly.

"Of course I did. They're my friends. I'm on their side, and I will do whatever's in my power to hand Chase over to them," Leo says. Courageously, he shifts to face Donald. "You still want me to stay at your house after knowing all of that?"

Donald's brows draw together in thought. His jaw clamps slowly into a lock as conflicting ideas build and build until they threaten to spill out. "I..."

Leo plays a guessing game. Which one will his stepfather now say?

 _I can't believe you,_ which is pretty likely.

 _I don't believe you,_ which is gonna be worse considering it would involve him trying to explain more and trying to prove himself.

 _I knew you'd do something like this,_ which won't be the easiest thing to hear, but that only takes them back to where they started so it won't be too bad.

 _I don't know,_ which would probably be as frustrating as Possibility Number 2.

Then, _I don't know what to say,_ which will probably just push him to give up altogether.

But his stepfather says something that he least expects. Donald takes a deep breath, nods, and then says, "I trust you."

Leo frowns, unsure if he heard right.

Donald gives him a small smile – nervous yet still warm. "I don't know them, but I do know you. And I trust you and whatever it is you want to do."

Leo blinks. Surely his brain is playing tricks on him. _He trusts me?_ He tries again and again to dissuade himself from believing his stepfather, but everything observable—his words, his facial expression, the confidence that keeps his shoulders sitting high—tells him otherwise.

Eventually, Leo decides he's out of moves. He lost. He scoffs, brashly leaning back on his chair with his arms crossed. "I can't believe you."

"What," Donald says, alarmed. "What did I do now?"

"I can't even win for losing with you."

It takes Donald a while to figure it all out. When he finally does, a grin, one that's not demeaning, slowly emerges on his face.

"I know what you're going to say," Leo says, annoyed. "'I'm Donald Davenport, and Donald Davenport always wins.'"

"No, no. Actually, I – " Donald chuckles in relief as he drives into their street. "I was just going to say that let's just take this one step at a time."

His stepfather smiles at him, and it tears Leo between getting angrier and being more forgiving. He looks out the window, all the fight drained from him. He can admit now that he's not as upset as earlier. Still: "I still have to leave, Big D."

"What?"

 _I have to get back to Chuck's so we can put our plan in place—_ but he doesn't tell him that. "There are still some things I have to do," he says.

"Leo..."

"I can't stay." Leo sits up when they pull up to the driveway. There are cars there, black sedans with heavily tinted windows, and a van that's just as dark and secretive. He hasn't seen any of these before, and in all honesty, it's causing dread to pool at the pit of his stomach. "What's happening here?" he asks his stepfather.

Donald shakes his head. "I don't know."

They park beside one of the cars then cautiously hop out. They walk carefully across the driveway, eyeing the vehicles as if one wrong move from them would cause all to explode.

Leo's brows furrow. He was wrong; he _has_ seen these cars before.

But where? And why is it making him anxious?

He follows Donald's lead into the house, but they don't get too far. Stepping from behind, he sees what it is that has caused Donald to freeze: agents in black, about a dozen and a half of them. They don't look like the ones that barged in to arrest Adam, Bree, and Chase. Their suits – they're more sophisticated. It's sleek, tailored. And they have helmets on and eye gears alike to Robocop, perhaps to conceal their identities. They're like superheroes.

 _Superhero._

Leo looks around and sees the insignia on the right side of their uniforms. _League Agents,_ he concludes.

And all of them are staring straight at him.

"Leo Dooley," one of them, a beefier, taller man, says to him. He points at the screen where the rest of their family and the Elite Force are staring aghast. "Is this you on the footage?"

Leo looks at the TV. After a few seconds, the frown on his face clears.

It's the surveillance footage from the coffee shop. Currently, it's showing the first time he met Vanessa, right when she has just approached him. Once that finished, it shows a clip he's never seen before: the two of them conversing, with Amai hunched over her chessboard in one of the tables nearby.

"I..." is all he manages to croak out. How did they get their hands on these?

"I will ask you again," the agent says, the tone of his voice louder and more authoritative. "Is this you on the video?"

"Y-yes," Leo mumbles, still lost. What do they want from him? This is bad. Will he have time to alert Chuck?

"You know Kalopsia?" Kaz asks, the horrified look on his face mirrored on the faces of his family. He even sees it on Skylar's face.

"I don't..." Yet after that, he doesn't know what to say anymore.

The agent nods toward him. "Arrest him."

It happens so fast that he doesn't get the time to process it. The armored, no doubt heavily-armed agents flock towards him all at once. There are gasps and words of protest. Before he can take a second step backwards, he's already on the ground, an excruciating pain twisting at his shoulders as they wring his hands on his back.

There's also an unbelievably suffocating weight on him.

"Get off of him!" Donald barks as the agents shove him out of view. "You're going to kill him! Get off of him!"

"...are under arrest for the murder of Agent Dina Prather, or Super Nova as she's most commonly known," the male agent continues to recite coldly, unfeelingly. "Though the League of Superheroes operates on laws differing to those common to Earth's, you are still able to obtain a defense to help you reason your case..."

 _Breathe, breathe, breathe,_ Leo tells himself as he feels his insides compress against the hard floor due to the increasing weight on him.

"I said get off of my son!"

"Mr. Davenport, no!"

From the spaces between the boots blocking his view, he sees an agent go down. A scuffle follows, one that involves two to three agents and his stepfather, then half of his family present, and it lasts until someone breaks it.

"No!" _Adam._

"Don't you dare step any closer to my father." _Bree._

At that moment, Leo's pulled up from the ground, his hands cuffed behind him.

"Do not get involved in this," one of the agents threatens the family, "or else."

"Or else what?" Chase says, rising up against the agent taller than he is. "You barged in here without a warrant. If anyone's at fault here, it's you."

The agent fumes for a minute. Then, he smirks. "Gutsy," he says. "Don't forget: we're only here to protect you from your brother who's betrayed you."

Leo's stomach sinks when the agent looks at him.

The feeling only worsens when his family looks at him, and in their eyes he sees doubt. In some, an agreement.

"Let's wheel him out of here," the lead agent instructs.

Leo staggers outside as he's simultaneously shoved and pulled back by different hands. He looks at his family, and it breaks him to see that they're not fighting for him anymore.

What makes it all worse is the probable fact that this might be the last time he'll see them, and no one, despite all of his efforts in the past, seem to want to rescue him.

* * *

 _Next: Chapter Twenty-Three - The End_


	23. The End

_Many thanks to AGW, cinnybun, and NaguraFlames! I've really appreciated your continuous support of this story._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three

 _ **The End**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

Leo wakes from a short yet unsettling dream. He stirs a little, lifts up his head, and loses some of the memory of it in the process. All he's able to retain is the sound of a woman, wailing in despair, and the glimpse of another woman speaking in a language he doesn't understand under her breath.

He thinks them strange for a moment before he remembers where he is. He lifts himself from the floor, slowly, until he's sitting, and then looks around to see if anything has changed.

None. He's still inside his glass cage, and he's still under the watch of two League Agents.

He thinks they're different guys now, though. The first two looked ready to pounce on him if he just breathed the wrong way. These two just look subtly annoyed.

He stretches his back as pain clutches on a few muscles. They've taken away all of his belongings so he has no way to tell time, but he's almost positive that the interrogation that preceded his caging lasted for a lawlessly long time. They haven't fed him, haven't even given him water.

All they've done so far is stare at him. And judge him behind those League-issued sunglasses.

The hairs on the back of his neck bristle as a familiar scent wafts to his nose. It's mixed in with at least two other distinct smells (three, if the dominating coffee scent counts), but he can't mistake it.

It's an expensive-smelling perfume, the kind that one of the board members of Davenport Industries wear. It's musky and rich and warm, like the bourbon Douglas has poured himself a few months ago.

 _Wynnford._

Leo stares at the entrance to the room, waiting for Titan Red to step in. The smell is getting thicker, so he must be getting closer.

But he waits and waits, and nothing happens.

One of the agents, the one standing on the right, seems to be alarmed by his staring. "Hey. What are you doing?" he demands.

Leo only glances at him. _What's taking him so long?_

"Didn't you hear me?" Agent High-Strung asks more pressingly. "I asked what you're—"

"Titan Red's coming in," the agent on the left of the door, a tall, biracial man in his late 20s, cuts in. He takes off his hold on his earpiece as he looks at their prisoner. "He has a party with him."

The agent's brows wrinkle lightly. "A party?" he asks. "How many?"

"Two," the word comes out of Leo's mouth before he can stop it. It surprises both agents, and it surprises him, too.

Before Agent High-Strung can ask another question, the door hisses open. Titan Red steps in with a smirk, dressed in dark blue jeans and a long-sleeve shirt that outlines his impressive physique. Behind him follows two League agents.

Leo stares. Two. _How did I know that?_

Agent High-Strung seems as surprised. The other one...has a smirk on his face, but Leo thinks he may just be imagining it.

"You're awake," Wynnford greets, smiling.

Leo says nothing.

"Gentlemen, if you don't mind, I'd like a few minutes alone with Mr. Dooley," Wynnford tells the agents.

Agent High-Strung, Agent Left-of-the-Door, and one of the new ones exchange glances. "But sir, we were given direct orders to always be—"

"I know what Lincoln told you," Wynford tells Agent High-Strung, his arms crossed, not taking his eyes away from Leo. "I still need you to leave."

"But—"

"Didn't your wife just give birth to your third, Crawford?" Wynford smiles at him. "You're financially struggling so, don't you need this job?"

Even behind the cover of his sunglasses, Leo can read humiliation on the agent's face. He's speechless for a second before shakily forcing himself to recover. He glances at his partner and then exits the door.

Affected by the prevailing fear, the two new agents follow suit. Meanwhile, Agent Left-of-the-Door exits after throwing Wynnford a glare behind his back.

"What, no 'Hello'?" Wynford says to Leo after the door hissed close. "You're a chatty little thing. I don't believe that you have nothing to say to me."

"Oh, I'm tempted to call you all kinds of things, Tin Can," Leo says, standing up and imitating his pose. "But words are cheap, and you actually get excited by anger."

Wynnford chuckles, but Leo can see that the 'Tin Can' moniker has annoyed him deep down. "Good to see that even without eating or drinking for almost eleven hours, you're still quick on the draw," he says, uncrossing his arms. "I wonder if you'll still be this quick if we don't feed you until tomorrow night."

"Starvation and death." Leo uncrosses his arms. "Spoken like a true sociopath."

Wynnford grins. "Ah, so you do know," he says. "I'm a little disappointed. I thought you'd be more tolerant."

"Of murderers? If I was, then my name would have been Arnold Coulter."

Wynnford laughs. "I'll tell him you said that. That's a good one. That's a good one."

Leo watches as Wynnford slowly paces back and forth, seemingly in deep thought on the surface. However, looking at him closer, Leo notices the veteran superhero clenching and unclenching his right hand on his side. There's also that glint in his eyes, the same one in the forest.

 _He wants to kill me,_ Leo thinks.

For the first time, he realizes how small and inescapable his holding cell is. "Don't I get at least one phone call?" he asks to rid himself of the dread looming over him.

"Phone call?" Wynnford asks. "Who are you going to call? No one in your family wants to save you, especially after they saw that video."

 _What a liar._ "You're pathetic."

Wynnford laughs, and it chills Leo to hear the grudge boiling under the false calm current he displays. "You lost. You know that, right? No one can come rescue you here," Wynnford says. He shrugs. "It doesn't even matter if, say, your stepdad round up the best lawyers his money can buy. The League of Superheroes operates under a different code of law. By the time they figure out how to get around it, it'd be too late."

"That's comforting to know that Earth's finest superheroes made a separate version of justice, one that protects you even when you break ours."

"Justice isn't real anyway. Justice is what you make it. There's no good or bad."

"Said the person who killed children and women and didn't feel sorry about it."

"Oh, that's right. I meant to ask you about that." Wynnford tilts his head thoughtfully. "You knew what Arnold and I talked about before we flew to Mission Creek. How did you do that? Did you do research on me or does Corvus have a way to spy on me?"

Leo scoffs. It's ridiculous how callous and narcissistic this man is. "You will get what you deserve," he tells him. "You're wrong. Justice is real. When it finally gets to you, not even your special code can protect you."

"Is that supposed to scare me?"

Leo says nothing, only holds his stare.

The smile on Wynnford's face grows a little. "All right. Fine. I'll let you have that since you don't have much time left. I'm horrible. I'll be punished." He playfully slaps his left hand then grins. "Bad. You're a bad man, Wynnford Sawyer."

 _Jerk,_ Leo thinks.

"I'll let you have this, too," Wynnford continues, "your stepdad? He's working so hard to save you. I kind of feel sorry for him because no one in your family's helping him, and Skylar Storm just...left after she found out those things about you. Donald had Kaz help him contact as many people they can in the League but...they're not getting an answer. And why would they? You've been aiding supervillains and managed to kill Super Nova in the process. The League of Superheroes will never exonerate you."

" _I_ didn't kill Super Nova, _you_ did."

"Come on now, Leo. Don't do this to yourself. We had the evidences from the mountain tested, and it came back positive. Everything points to you. Unless, you know, you have an eye witness to testify for you."

He does have one: Seo Woo. But there's absolutely no way he's going to let Titan Red and this twisted League of Superheroes go after his friend. So, he just says, "What, do you get an appearance fee if you show up in court? Play like you're the victim and cry a little bit so companies will pay you triple to be on their tissue boxes?"

Wynnford grins. "Don't get mad at me because you never got an offer like that when you were a superhero."

"Yes. I'm angry because I've never been the face people associate with sickness and pain."

Wynnford chuckles, amused. "Well, since you know so much, do you know what will happen tomorrow?"

Leo only glares at him.

"Tomorrow morning, the agents will prep you for transport," Wynnford tells him. "They'll give you this nice black suit, with a pretty little emblem and your prisoner number underneath. Then they'll cuff you and put you into a van to take you to an undisclosed facility a few hours away from here."

"What, no breakfast?" Leo snipes.

"No. I don't imagine you'd want any since you would be running for your life soon after you leave here." Finding fuel from the slight confusion on Leo's face, he grins. "There's going to be an accident, one that one of the agents working for Corvus Black will facilitate. At least, that's what the transport agents will say. A few of them will get hurt, but they've already been paid for that. They'll be okay."

He chuckles. "You're not as fast as your stepsister, so I'll give you a good head start. Not that it'd be of use to you anyway. The rules stipulate that highly dangerous prisoners should be subdued by any means necessary."

"You're going to kill me," Leo concludes.

Wynnford smiles. "Pop quiz, Leo Dooley: do I want you dead or not?"

Leo stares him right in the eye. In the depths of Wynnford's icy blue eyes, he sees the dark deep that has consumed countless lives long before this moment. He sees again the voraciousness of his bloodlust through his restless hands, ones that clasp and unclasp for the machinery he's built to kill both the guilty and the innocent.

Wynnford reads the answer in Leo's eyes. He smiles a frightening, predatory smile. "Wrong," he tells Leo. "I really, _really_ want you dead."

Those words, though spoken softly, ring loud inside Leo's cell. He realizes that this might really be the end of him.

However, he doesn't dwell on that. _If you do, you've lost,_ he tells himself.

"Do you know why?" Wynnford asks. "It's not because you figured me out from the very beginning. It's not even because you humiliated me in front of your family. Come on. You must have some guess."

"Hmm...Because I drew in a unibrow on the new picture they had of you at the comic book store?"

"No. It's because _you_ are the key to the future—and I won't have none of that."

The sardonic grin on Leo's face falls.

Wynnford laughs. "You didn't know? You seriously thought it was Chase? The egocentric bionic kid who always gets himself kidnapped?"

Did he know?

Of course not.

Maybe not.

 _A brilliant inventor with a heart of gold. You really are unusual._

Maybe.

"Or, maybe, you did know. You just didn't want to accept it," Wynnford concludes from the conflict visible on Leo's face. He smiles then nods. "I like this. These are the kinds of things I live for."

He takes out a device the size of a handheld recorder from his pocket. He clicks on a button, and up on a holographic screen pops up a picture of a woman Leo has never seen before. "Do you know who this is?" Wynnford asks. "You may know. She was in the same cell as you are, oh, about twenty years ago?"

A female detainee. Twenty years ago. Leo scoffs and shakes his head. "You've got this whole hobby of making people disappear down pat, don't you?" he says. "You're going to eliminate me like you eliminated her?"

"So I was right. You do have a way to access private files that only high-ranking agents have clearance to," Wynnford says, amused. "You must know that she's the one who brought you here to Earth. That you were so important that she saw you as a weapon she can use to her advantage."

 _Old news,_ Leo thinks.

Wynnford shrugs. "Not that you were of any help to her," he says. He smiles. "Oh, she put up a fight. She tried to stay alive, I think because she really wanted to be around to see you grow up or something. Just why, I don't know. But, ooh – she was a fighter."

"Don't you feel sorry for yourself when you talk like that?" Leo says. "Do you even hear yourself? You get a kick out of killing women and children. You've killed more of them than men. Doesn't that, oh, I don't know, make you pathetic?"

Wynnford only chuckles as he paces.

But Leo sees through the façade. "You know that, too, don't you? You're not strong enough to put up a decent fight, let alone face the reality that you're never going to be the strongest of them all, so you pull trash moves like that."

"Correction," Wynnford says, his tone chillingly calm, "I _am_ the strongest superhero there is."

 _Where's the first and second?_ he remembers Bree asking about the first and second most powerful superheroes weeks ago.

 _Last we heard, they're in different planets,_ Oliver has said. _They're battling off their newest villains, I think._

"Skeleton in the closet," Leo mutters, remembering what Chuck has called Titan Red.

"Now no one can stand in my way," Wynnford says. "And why would they? Who would dare go against the strongest superhero there is? And I know everyone's weak spots. No one will ever try to go against me."

"Dude, you're forgetting one thing: you're still mortal. You're subject to death like the rest of us," Leo says. "Not to rain on your parade, but you're old, man. You're, what, a hundred? Your machines can only take you so far."

The smile on Wynnford's face fades. Leo isn't sure that the darker expression is a good thing. "You haven't developed your full set of abilities yet so tomorrow will be a breeze," Wynnford says. "I will enjoy every single second of it. I will make sure it's as slow and agonizing as I can make it."

"Joke's on you, I have a low tolerance when it comes to pain. It's going to be quick and relatively painless," Leo jokes despite his heart hammering loudly in his chest. He crosses his arms. "I might be dead, but you're always going to be a loser."

Wynnford lunges towards the tube then angrily pounds a fist against it. "I can end you right here, right now, you worthless little insect, don't you understand that?" he screams at Leo. "All I have to press is one button— _one button_ —and all will be over for you!"

Leo tries his best not to look away, but he's not sure he's succeeding in looking as brave as he wants to. The veteran superhero has a deranged look in his widened eyes that he's never seen in anyone before. Not Marcus, not Krane, not Giselle. All he sees is a total loss of control, one that even Wynnford himself can't do anything about.

 _He's crazy. He's really crazy._

It unsettles Leo a little more when recognition somehow suddenly dawns upon the veteran hero. It's as if he realizes where he is and who he's talking to. His expression does a sickening flip from being absolutely insane to calm and happy.

Wynnford walks back to where he stood earlier then smiles at Leo as if nothing happened. "Do you want to know what you are? Who you really are?" he asks. He takes out the device from his pocket again then clicks on another button.

There on a new hologram spins the 7 logo, the one that they saw on the card.

"There was no superhero that needed to be rescued from that mountain," Wynnford says. "The tech guy has always been right here. At the LoS base. It took him a really long while to crack just this one open, but..." He taps the logo, and it blinks to reveal a picture of a circular device. "Do you know what this is?"

Leo frowns at the picture, narrowing his eyes to see it a little better.

"You should know," Wynnford says, smiling. "It's your invention, maybe even the most important there is."

 _X-043,_ Leo finally realizes.

"It's a brilliant little thing, really. I don't know if this is how you originally intended it to function, but this device is designed to drain a superhero or a supervillain of their power. Works just like antalese crystals, only more accessible."

"How did you know it was mine?"

Wynnford smirks. "Oliver," he calls out.

The door to the room slides open, and outside stands the doctor-turned-superhero. He comes inside, the door closing back behind him, and then hands Wynnford an all-too-familiar sketchbook.

"Hey, that's mine!" Leo says.

"It's evidence now, so actually, it belongs to us," Wynnford says, handing Oliver the device then leafing through the sketchbook.

Leo fumes as he watches the veteran superhero. Every page skimmed through feels like a cut deeper into him. He feels exposed and violated, as if he's been stripped and vivisected for the world to see.

Anger spilling onto the other teenager, he says, "You're a traitor."

"Takes one to know one, doesn't it?" Oliver replies coldly. His brows hitch. "You in prison. Why am I not surprised?"

"Okay, here you go. X-043," Wynnford says. He frowns. "The one here is box-shaped, but the one on the file is spherical. Why?"

Leo frowns. "Are you serious?"

"Ah. I guess you're right. We'll just have to figure it out," Wynnford says, smiling. He waves the sketchbook. "You know what will happen to these? They will get manufactured, and they will be put to good use. Oliver here, the brilliant kid that he is, will take credit for it. People will know him as the youngest and smartest member of the New Council."

"The New Council?"

"Yeah. The New Council, a new group formed by seven League of Superhero members who will make sure the good is always winning." Wynnford chuckles. "Well, at least that's what it would say on the website. And guess what? We're using your wonderful inventions to make sure no one will step out of line."

Leo sees red at that. "You thief—"

"Uh-uh. Not thief. In the New Council, I'm The Balance," Wynnford says. "Do you see now why I can't let you live? You have this innate ability to create things that Earth has never seen before, things that give power to people who have it. And it's not just what your hands create that makes you extraordinary, it's what you are.

"Do you know what she kept mumbling while she was dying? Perseus. I think, even in her dying moments, she was hoping you would save her." Wynnford laughs. "But what can you do? You were just a baby then, not even capable of cleaning after yourself. But, now, you're getting older, and your kind – your kind is the kind that lives for a long time if left unchecked. And someone like you might be capable of things none of us have ever seen."

"You're delusional."

"Your life here on Earth, your life with your new family, has convinced you you're insignificant when all along, you're one of the few people who will change history, not just of one, but of two planets. The Balance. It's a really fitting title. Intelligent, powerful? Holds a lot of sway? You're the one who will decide the winning side."

Wynnford sighs. "But it's never going to happen because tomorrow, you'll join the rebel and the rest of your real family." He smiles at Leo. "And me? I'll be The Balance. I will become who you're supposed to be. I may not be able to live forever, but having even just a few years of knowing that I ruined something you could have saved is more than enough for me."

Leo watches in both anger and dread as Wynnford leaves the room with his sketchbook. He looks at Oliver, too, who follows right behind.

Unlike Wynnford, though, Oliver's steps are heavy. They gain more and more weight until eventually, he stops to look back.

In his eyes, Leo finds...indecision. Loneliness. Though he's mad at him for betraying their side, he's moved to appeal to the person who was once his good friend. _Don't do it, man. Don't listen to him,_ he pleads to Oliver, shaking his head. _You're good. It's not too late._

There's a spark of recognition—but it only lasts a fleeting moment. Suddenly, it's replaced by a hard look, one that tells Leo that Oliver has shut him out. There's only rage and blaming.

Oliver turns his back on him then leaves.

After his new guards take their station, Leo finally breathes. He's done his best to fight off Wynnford and now, he's just tired. He knows he can't give up because it means his very life, but after starving him, imprisoning him, and showing him that no one can actually save him this time, he doesn't know if he can pick up the battle again tomorrow.

Dizzy, he lies down on the floor and stares up the ceiling. Is his mother even looking for him? Are his stepsiblings even trying at all to save him? Or had they just cast him off, not knowing that their argument nights prior is the last real conversation they will ever have?

"Tell Chuck I was wrong," he says, imagining that someway, Seo Woo will get the message. "Tell him I should have apologized when he told me to. Tell him I'm sorry I was cocky."

"Hey. What are you doing?"

Leo opens his eyes then looks at his guards. He sees a communicator strapped on their belts and takes that as a beacon of hope, no matter how ridiculous it might be. He lies back down and closes his eyes. "I'm sorry, hyung, but I think this is it for me," he says. A lump forms in his throat as he thinks of Naomi. "Thanks anyways. For saving me the first time."

He tries to come up with more things to say but seconds later he only falls asleep.

* * *

 _Next: Chapter Twenty-Four - Friends in High Places_


	24. Friends in High Places

_Thanks to AGW, cinnybun, and NaguraFlames for your reviews! Hopefully, this new chapter will make up for the lack of response PM._

 _Not quite sure if there will be another update this week. If there isn't, I wish everyone a happy weekend!_

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Four

 _ **Friends in High Places**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

The second time he wakes up, it's to a scene of chaos. The metal flooring of his cell shakes so violently that he mistakes it as earthquake. He gets up, ready to bolt, only to see that he's still locked inside the glass cage even in a time of danger.

But what confuses him more is the equal amount of confusion on his guards' part. Their backs are on him, stances tense as one of them talk rapidly into a communicator. "Well, who is it?" the agent with the communicator barks on the device.

 _"I don't know!"_ yells a voice through the radio, the shrill scream that comes into the room as a faint echo coming in louder from his side.

The ground stops shaking, and the loud scream that Leo suspects to be an ability vanishes.

The agent with the communicator glares at him. "Stay here with him," he instructs the other, pointing at Leo as if he's a thing and not a fellow living being.

The other hesitantly nods.

The senior of the two keys in something at the keypad by the door. The doors hiss as they slide open, and then...

Leo smells it, three particular scents coming closer. One of them, he's not familiar with. The other, he vaguely remembers picking up before. The third one...The third one he knows.

The smell of vanilla and honey with a hint of sulfur is unmistakable.

 _What is she doing here?_ Leo thinks.

The door opens once again, and contrary to his expectation, it's one of his previous guards. He's the one from last night, the half-white, half-black guy in his late 20s who was a lot less tense compared to Agent High-Strung. Agent Left-of-the-Door, Leo remembers naming him. He's slightly panting and wears a look that's telling of how bad things are outside. "Patel," he speaks to the other agent. "Where's Gaines?"

"He just left," the agent says, confused. "He just went out. You didn't see him?"

Agent Left-of-the-Door straightens up. "No, I did." He glances outside.

Agent Patel follows his gaze.

Whatever he sees outside the door causes him to look at the other agent in shock and reach for his communicator.

 _"Hanseh!"_

At Agent Left-of-the-Door's call, a starkly blue creature—small, faceless and with cloth-like wings—materializes by his shoulder.

With his sharp eyes only trained at Agent Patel, the agent whistles low then clicks his tongue twice loud and clear.

The creature's wings condense into sharp points on its sides then attacks. It zooms at the speed of light and phases through its target.

Leo watches in horror as Agent Patel stands still for a few seconds, petrified, before falling unconscious to the floor.

The agent only looks at the fallen one as if he's only examining a weed he has uprooted. Then, he heads to the control pad to type in a pass code.

Leo steps back after the glass cage whirs. _He's opening it,_ he concludes in dread. Instinctively, his hands ball into fists. "Don't think I'm not going without a fight," he tells the agent.

"This is not what you think it is," the agent says.

"Yeah. I'm sure that's what Wynnford told you to say."

The glass panel in front of Leo slides downwards, finally removing the barricade that separates him from the free world.

The agent impatiently waves him forward. "Come on," he urges after seeing the suspicion on his face. "We have no time for this."

Leo frowns at him, still full of doubt. Sure, he opened the door, but Titan Red made it clear the night before that he has a diabolical plan for him. Even if this is not following the scheme he announced last night, Leo can't help but think that the veteran superhero could have switched it up the last minute to amuse himself. "I've seen _Shawshank Redemption,"_ he tells him. "I know what you're trying to do."

The agent only stares at him in frustration. His hands come up to his hips then he sighs. Leo thinks he's going to start yelling at him or at least insist that he's a friend but to his surprise, the agent chuckles. "I'm not going to shoot you when you step out," he says, a smirk tugging at his lips. "I promise."

He's amused? Leo shakes his head, still unconvinced. "No. I can't trust you."

"Fine. Don't trust me. But at least trust your friend." Seeing his surprise, the agent adds, "I know you know she's here. You picked up the scent that she's coming."

"How...How did you know that?"

The agent smiles. "Because you and I are alike."

Though he's inclined to stay inside, a gut-feeling compels him to go. Despite the confusion that has been these past few weeks, his radar when it comes to people hasn't completely failed him. Right now, it's telling him that the agent is safe.

The smile on the agent's face vanishes when something unseen and unheard comes to him. He glances alertly at the open door behind him then tells Leo, "They're sending more people this way. They'll be here any minute."

True to what he says, Leo picks up an unpleasant medley of distinct scents teasing in the air.

Maybe the agent is right. Maybe they are the same. Maybe he is telling the truth, and he should go with him. But, after his stepsiblings turned their backs on him at a critical moment and after an old friend betrayed him to a murderer, stepping out and taking a leap of faith has become a lot harder. If the people he once trusted can change so quickly and abandon him, how much easier would it be to a stranger like the agent?

Losing his patience, the agent advances to the glass cage in long strides. "I'm sorry to do this, but we don't have much time." He then grabs Leo's wrist and pulls him outside.

"Hey!"

The agent takes him along to the entrance. He cautiously peeks outside, looking both ways.

Leo frowns, unhappy with how tight the guy's hold is. He tries to shake his hand lose—but to no avail. "Can you let go?"

"In a minute. We have to get out of here, and your indecision is making it hard to do so." After confirming, he tells Leo, "Okay. All clear. Let's go."

Leo scowls at him as they run through the corridor. "Who are you anyway?" he asks.

"Agent Titus Daniels," he says. A moment later, he glances at him. The hardened, wary expression on his face then softens into a sad smile. "But my real name is Perseus."

"Perseus?"

"Most of the things the human told you last night are not true," Perseus says, eyes quickly sweeping through their surroundings. "The one they call rebel, she's my mother. But she's not a rebel, at least not in the way they think she is. And when she was dying..."

"She was calling out to you," Leo concludes, and the wariness he feels towards him mostly evaporates. "I'm sorry."

Perseus nods. Suddenly, he pulls Leo behind a wall to retreat

Leo is set to ask why when he picks up six distinct scents wafting from down the corridor. He looks up at Perseus, worried.

Perseus nods, assuring him. He clicks his tongue twice again, and once more the bird following them transforms into a fast-moving arrowhead.

Leo flinches when he hears loud clinks and frightened screaming down the hall. "What is that?" he asks Perseus.

Perseus smiles. "You mean the light sentinel?"

"Is that what that bird is?"

Perseus nods.

Leo frowns. "You said something to it earlier. Is that its name?"

 _"Hanseh?"_

"Yeah, I guess?"

Perseus cautiously checks to see if any of the agents are still standing. Content with what he sees, he tells Leo, "No. It's a command. It tells it that there's a potentially dangerous person. The low whistle readies it, and the two clicks tell it to stun."

"Wow. That's cool."

"Isn't it?" Perseus says, grinning. "Now, let's go."

Leo looks at the agents sprawled all over the floor as they zip through. "So they're just sleeping?"

"Yes."

"Where did you get the bird?"

"They're unique and native to our home planet, Lucem," Perseus says.

 _"Our?_ So, you were born there and not here?"

"There were three of us on that ship." Perseus suddenly stops and holds up a hand. Letting go of Leo's wrist, he motions for him to hide behind a wall as he checks the hallway. "All clear." Instead of telling Leo to go, though, Perseus' brows furrow. "Was the human right? Did you know you aren't human?"

Leo nods reluctantly.

Perseus smiles. "Good. That makes things a lot easier for me," he says. He nods to the left corridor. "This way."

"I was told that Lucem is gone," Leo says as they continue to run. "Is that true?"

"As long as—"

Both of them lose their momentum as a bright, white beam nearly hits both of them. They stumble forward due to the aftershock of the blast, Perseus in a more graceful way than Leo.

Groaning from the new waves of pain throbbing throughout his body, Leo slowly gets up. Turning around, he finds a superhero dressed in all white walking towards them, fingers again glowing hot white. "Where do you two think you're going?" he says.

Perseus slowly gets up on his feet, gauging how the act affects the superhero. A movement from a few yards behind alerts him of the bigger group of agents coming in from the hallway.

Seeing that, too, Leo tells Perseus, "I thought you were the pro between the two of us?"

"Starbright," Perseus says, not taking his eyes off the superhero.

Starbright scoffs. "A double agent. Figures. This wouldn't have happened if it wasn't an inside job," he says. He smirks. "What are you going to say, Agent Daniels? 'Let me go?'"

As he watches power build in Starbright's hands, Leo thinks this could really be the end of them. Right there, at that hall, at the mercy of someone who Wynnford probably mentored.

But then he picks up the scents again: vanilla and honey; the new and unfamiliar cedarwood; and the slightly familiar one, the one that he now remembers smelling in one of the examination rooms in Mighty Med.

"I'd say maybe cover your ears?" Leo tells Perseus.

"What?" Starbright says.

Perseus nods. "I had the same idea." Then, he covers his ears.

The walls and the ground begin to shake as a deafening scream rings through the sealed, compact corridors of the facility. Leo watches as behind Starbright, agents tumble whichever way, all scrambling and scattering to get away from the ear-splitting sound.

When it all ends, only two remain standing.

Starbright, who had been quick enough to cover his ears, turns to see the sorry sight behind him. His hands glow brighter as he turns around, fuming at the escapees. "Let's see if they're fast enough to stop—"

A cloud of dark mist bursts in front of Starbright, stopping him from attacking. The man who materialized from it opens his arms wide. "Starburst!" he exclaims happily.

Starbright stares in surprise for a second before the glower, now charged with heavier resentment, comes back to his eyes. "It's _Starbright._ "

"Ah, come on." The man from the dark cloud grins. "Starburst is a lot better than Starbright. Starbright just sounds like a dishwashing product, man."

Starbright's jaw locks. "Get. Out. Of. My. Way."

"Aw, is that how you greet an old friend?" The man stretches out his arms again then motions for an embrace. "Come here. Let me give you a hug."

"No!"

Upon contact, both of them disappear into thin air.

With them gone, Leo sees clearer the tragedy that is the group of agents. Also there, he finds someone he didn't know he missed terribly. "Skylar!"

"Leo!" Skylar runs to him as Perseus pulls him back up to his feet, Sonara trailing close behind her. She looks him over then smiles when she finds him in good condition. "I was worried we came too late."

"No," Leo says, unaware of the excited smile he wears on his face.

"Uh, I'm also here," Sonara waves her hand, displeased.

Leo chuckles. "Of course. I'm sorry," he says. "Hi, Sonara."

Sonara only rolls her eyes. Finally noticing Perseus, she frowns up at him. "And who are you?"

"Daniels. Titus Daniels," Perseus says, smiling politely.

Sonara looks him up and down. "You sent us the blueprints of this building."

"I did."

"And you're an LoS agent."

"I am."

"Hm. Why are you helping us?"

Perseus opens his mouth to speak, but the sound of another burst stops him short. "Well, that was not a hug I wanted," the man says, dusting off the front of his shirt in disgust. He stares at Perseus after he joins the group. His eyes narrow. "I've seen you before."

Perseus offers his hand. "Titus Daniels."

"Mark Prather," he says, shaking his hand warily.

"Prather?" Leo repeats.

"Super Nova is my mother," Mark answers. Then, more somberly, "Or, if we're going to be more grammatically correct, she _was._ "

 _He's Super Nova's only child._ "I'm sorry," Leo tells him. "Super Nova was a good woman. She was a real hero."

Mark nods, a sad smile on his face. "I tried to warn her. Sawyer's a lowlife dirt of the earth."

"He killed your mother," Perseus says.

Mark nods.

"He killed mine, too," Perseus says sympathetically.

"Oh. So that's why," Sonara says.

Perseus offers her the smallest of smiles as a response.

"You must be the Leo I keep hearing about then," Mark tells Leo.

"I am," Leo says.

"The ex-bionic kid?"

Leo looks at Perseus. Bionic. That word sounds like a foreign time, a foreign place altogether now. He smiles sadly. "I was," he says.

"Cool. So, Titus, was it?"

Perseus nods.

"We can take it from here. I can take us all back."

"Okay."

"Wait." Leo faces Perseus and asks, "Can't you come with us? They know you helped me. You're not going to be safe here."

"I can't go with you. Not yet," Perseus tells him, a small, reassuring smile on his face. "I still have one more thing to do here."

"But what if you get hurt? I don't want to leave you."

"You must, my prince, because you still have a kingdom to build back up from the ground."

Leo, as well as Skylar, Mark, and Sonara, stare at him. "Whoa," Sonara says. She points to Leo. "This dude's royalty?"

Prince. Prince? Chuck has told him about the queen of Lucem, but...

Reading the fear in Leo's eyes, Perseus places his hands on his shoulders and looks him straight in the eye. "I have so many things to tell you, but there's no time right now," he says. He smiles as he gets a good look at Leo's face. "Look at you. It didn't seem that long ago when Mother took us away from Lucem. It only seems yesterday when she handed you over to Ben. He found you a good home. That's good."

Leo frowns. "Handed me over?"

"Uh, I hate to spring this on you two," Mark says, looking down the hall where the faint sound of running echoes, "but the LoS minions are coming."

"We can buy them a few more minutes," Skylar tells Sonara and Mark.

"No. Wynnford is with them," Perseus says. "Your good friend is not too far behind."

Skylar frowns, confused. "My good friend?"

Leo finds that telling her about Oliver isn't as easy as he thought, especially as she looks at him with the utmost confusion.

"The case worker who gave you to your mother now," Perseus tells Leo, "he used to be an agent. He's a good man who my mother trusted. She handed you to him."

 _So I wasn't found in a ditch?_ "I can't do this," Leo admits to Perseus as all the things he's learned throughout the weeks jumble inside his head. "I'm so confused—I don't know what to do! I still have so many questions."

"We'll try to hold them off," Mark says as he and Sonara stand as a barricade between the rest of their group and the first few agents who found them.

Perseus reaches under his shirt then pulls out a necklace. He unloops it from his neck and then puts it around Leo's. "Keep this on. This holds the information you need."

Leo examines the pendant. It's circular – a sterling silver jewelry. Inside the bigger hoop are smaller writings, the letters _definitely_ not from Earth.

He frowns. Hasn't he seen this before?

"The villains' logo, the seven," Skylar mutters as she thoughtfully stares at the pendant. She looks at Leo. "Isn't that it?"

Seven. Chuck, The Doctor, Amai, Seo Woo, Nisha, Vanessa.

Him.

"I'm the seventh," Leo mumbles.

"You have to get out of Earth," Perseus tells him. "You have bigger things you need to accomplish as the prince of Lucem, and you can't do it here."

"But...but Lucem, it's gone..."

"Some of our people are still out there in the universe. That's why you must find them. Years have passed, but they still need a home." Perseus smiles sadly. "Not many of us survived, which is why it's more important now for you to find them. That's the only way Lucem can keep living."

The Balance, a prince of a lost kingdom, and the seventh member of the group who will change Earth's future. Just months ago, he was a nobody. Now, he's a somebody in the vast galaxy, yet he doesn't know if he can shoulder it all. "I can't do this on my own," Leo tells Perseus.

"You won't. Your new family will help you. Also..." Looking behind him, Perseus whistles softly.

At this, the light sentinel appears again. This time, however, it graciously flutters towards Leo. It perches onto his shoulder then vanishes into invisibility.

"Mother told me years ago to always look after you because here on Earth, we're to be brothers. I'm glad that despite everything, you are safe." Perseus embraces Leo tightly, remembering the night he had to say goodbye to him. "Goodbye once more, my prince. I promise, sooner this time, we will see each other again."

Leo watches as Perseus walks away from him and into the battle.

"Let's go home," he hears Skylar say behind him as Mark and Sonara retreat from the fight to join them.

Leo turns around and does his best to smile even when worries begin to fill him. "Tin Can said you ran away," he tells Skylar. "I thought you thought I betrayed you."

"Never." Skylar smiles. "You may be many things, Leo, but a traitor is not one of them."

Leo's smile grows.

"They've gotten better over the years, I'll tell you that much," Mark says, panting when they reach them. He takes Sonara's hand. "Agent Man's wrecking them right now. Let's get out of here so he can take off, too."

Skylar holds onto Sonara's hand then holds her left hand out to Leo.

Though inclined to stay behind for Perseus, Leo eventually acquiesces into holding Skylar's hand.

It offers him comfort, the warmth of her palm. Her grip is firm and assuring. Somehow, in her touch, it feels as though he's okay even as the ground underneath him shifts for the second time.

For a moment, within the darkness created by Mark's ability, he feels somewhat all right knowing that he's within reach of the girl he trusts with his life.

* * *

 _Next: Chapter Twenty-Five - Decisions, Decisions_


	25. Decisions, Decisions

_It's Monday! Thanks once again to AGW, cinnybun, and NaguraFlames for your reviews. You guys are the best!_

 _We're winding down to the final chapters, everyone. It's definitely been fun. :)_

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Five

 _ **Decisions, Decisions**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

When the dark cloud clears, Leo, Sonara, and Skylar shield their eyes. The late morning sun beaming down Mission Creek stands in stark contrast to the bath of gray and red-orange of the League of Superheroes' facility, and having it suddenly flood their sights hurts them. "Babe, we could have really used the warning," Sonara says, her hand over her eyes.

"Sorry," Mark says, watching her worriedly. "This is the only destination I thought of."

Leo tries to blink back the red burst of light clouding his vision to get a better look around. He sees the empty street and sees the familiar pink-ish house of the Goldbergs on his right. He sees towering trees and smells the salt of the ocean—both of which are familiar, too. "Are we on my street?" he asks.

"Yup! I thought about taking us straight inside the house, but I didn't know if Los Minions are still scouring the pad."

"I'm sorry, Los Minions?" Skylar asks.

"League of Superheroes Minions," Mark explains, grinning. "Los Minions, for short."

"Oh."

"How about this, Your Highness?" Sonara nods at the mansion ahead. "Think you and Skylar can handle this on your own?"

Leo frowns at the slight tease but eventually ignores it. Looking ahead, he finds the house— _his_ house—sitting there. The LoS transport vans are gone, and there doesn't seem to be any agents roaming about.

However, those are not what really make him uneasy. It's the thought that inside is his family, and they may not be so hospitable towards someone who they view as a traitor.

"Leo?" Skylar gently prompts.

Leo takes a deep breath. "I don't think I should be here," he tells the group. "The League will try to look for me here and even if they don't... _they_ might turn me in."

Sympathetic, Sonara says, "The League might come here, but it'll take them at least an hour. The facility they took you to is far from here. You should have enough time to get what you need and run."

"Run?" Leo asks. "Run where?"

"The transporter device has been fixed," Skylar says. With some unease, she adds, "Run away to Caldera with me."

Leo stares at her. He glances at his house, thinks of his family, and then says, "Caldera?"

"Look, we're not sure which race you belong to yet, but my guess is that you can live in Caldera comfortably," Sonara says. "You and Skylar will take the device with you, which will ensure that no one from Earth will be able to reach you. Skylar's planet is millions of lightyears away. It'll take your enemies forever to get to you."

"What about you and Mark?"

"Sonam and I will be fine," Mark tells him, smiling. "I've been running from the League since I broke out of their brainwashing facility. I know how to get around them." He places a hand on Leo's shoulder. "As far as your family turning you in, if that happens, just remember that that doesn't necessarily mean they don't care about you. My mom turned me in when I came back home, but I think she still loved me 'til the very end."

For a moment, Leo's taken back to the mountain where Super Nova lost her life for protecting him. "She did," he tells Mark. "All she wanted to do was protect you and your dad."

Mark nods, a sad smile on his face.

"You and Sonara should go," Skylar tells him. "We don't know who's watching. It's better if they don't see you around us."

Sonara nods. She holds onto Mark's hand as he retreats to her side. "Skylar, will you really be okay?" she asks her friend.

"There's a time to fight and a time to run," Skylar tells her friend, smiling. "I'm leaving Earth to keep peace on it."

Sonara smiles. She reaches out for Skylar's hand then squeezes it. "You've been a great friend."

"This is not goodbye, Sonam. I'll visit in a few years."

Sonara shakes Skylar's hand playfully. She darts a look at Leo, one that he misses, and then winks at Skylar. "Come on, _aashiq._ We should go," she tells Mark.

Mark nods. "Skylar. Leo," he nods at the two.

"Thank you for helping me," Leo says.

"Of course. Just keep me in mind when you start looking for important people to have in your cabinet," Mark jokes. He chuckles then waves. "Bye!"

A dark cloud surrounds them both, and eventually they disintegrate into invisible particles. Skylar smiles while Leo waves a goodbye at the nothingness they vanished into.

The silence that entails sobers them up to their reality. The plan of going to Caldera soon lingers awkwardly in the air and become thicker and harder to bear with each untouched moment that passes.

The two of them, together, in a planet far away. Leo refuses to think too much about it. "Ready?" he asks Skylar instead.

Skylar nods then follows him to the mansion.

"What does Mark mean about brainwashing facility?" he asks as they approach.

"The Gifted Children program the League of Superheroes have," Skylar explains quietly as they duck behind a wall. She waits until Leo finishes surveying the area beyond the gate, and when he finishes she adds, "The League managed to convince superhero parents to hand over their gifted kids. The aim was to train them use their abilities wisely, but eventually they started forcing these kids to become members and serve their purpose, whatever that is."

Leo frowns as he enters the password on the keypad. "Is that what Sonara was talking about at Mighty Med?"

Skylar nods. "Yes. Because Super Nova still believed that the League was good, she signed Mark up," she says. "But Mark caught earlier on that the program isn't really to help the children but to help the League of Superheroes as a group. They tortured him to force him to stay but eventually he got out, he and a few others."

The gate groans open. Leo scoffs. "I thought they were supposed to be the good guys?"

"I did, too," Skylar admits sadly.

Carefully, the two approach the house. Leo stops by the garden, at a spot out of the Closed Circuit cameras, and calculates the best way in.

The front door is definitely a no. The garage is also a no (difficult to access). The pool door _might_ be a slightly better option. "You mind peeking in to see who's inside?" he requests.

Skylar gazes inside, using her enhanced vision. After a moment, she says, "Unless the agents have tech that prevents them from getting detected, all I see is your family."

"Good. Thanks."

"No problem."

Leo considers their options, and somehow the more insane plan in the selection stands out to him. "Is my mom inside?"

Skylar nods. "She's in the living room with your siblings. Oh. Kaz just came in." She narrows her eyes. "It looks like some things from the lab are scattered in the living room. Huh. Why is that?"

"All right," Leo says. He takes a step forward. "Let's march through the front door."

Skylar pulls him back. "What?"

"I know this is probably the worst plan ever, but I have to give them a chance," Leo says. He remembers the morning his stepfather took him home. He still remembers how he defended him from the agents. "It would be pretty cowardly of me to just run without saying goodbye. Mark is right: even if my mom doesn't understand what's happening right now, she still cares about me. I can't leave Earth without thanking her for all that she did for me."

Skylar smiles a sad smile. She nods. "But what about your siblings?"

Leo takes a deep breath as he processes that. The truth comes to him like the blinding daylight after a bout of darkness. "They're going to be hostile," he says. "I think I just have to accept that."

"I'm sorry."

Leo shakes his head. "Don't be." He smiles at her. "Let's go."

Leaving the safety of their hiding spot, the two continue towards the front door. The driveway looks so foreign without the excessive amount of League cars. It almost looks eerie, foreboding.

Without pausing for a second thought, Leo opens the door. When he does, four pairs of eyes shoot towards his direction.

Three display what he expects: bemusement and a bud of antagonism.

One display surprise, especially as he looks back and forth from Skylar to Leo.

The other..."Leo!"

The wind is nearly knocked out of him as Tasha runs to embrace him. She's nearly in tears as she takes him in, League of Superheroes' prisoner suit and all. "Are you okay? Goodness – what did they do to you?" she says, noting his chapped lips.

"I'm fine, Mom. I'm pretty hungry and thirsty, but I'm fine," Leo tells her.

"Where's Mr. Davenport?" Chase demands.

 _Here we go._ Leo rolls his eyes. "As you can see, Chase, I just got out of a detention facility," he tells him dryly. "How am I supposed to know?"

Bree picks up a package from the kitchen counter then slams it on the couch, closer to Leo. "That came for you this morning," she says, nodding at it.

Leo frowns at the ripped-open packaging tape. "It's open."

"Of course it's open. For all we know, it could be a ransom note from the people who took Mr. Davenport."

Leo looks at Tasha, confused.

"Your stepdad's been trying to find ways to free you from the people who took you," Tasha explains, worry written all over her face. "But last night, he and Kaz got separated. He hasn't come back or contacted us since."

"Titan Red did tell me that Big D and Kaz are going around trying to get help." Leo looks at Kaz. "Tin Can and a few of his superhero cohorts aren't happy about it. Are you sure it wasn't one of them?"

Kaz, taken aback at first by that question, shakes his head. "I don't think so."

"You really have been corrupted by those villains," Chase remarks (with a tone of animosity, Leo notices). "Superheroes being the bad guys? What kind of garbage have they been putting in your brain?"

"That the line between good and bad isn't as clear in the world of superheroes as you think," Leo says, digging through the package. He glances up at him challengingly. "What about you? What kind of garbage have you been putting in _your_ brain?"

The question clearly touches a nerve, but Leo can't get himself to care. He digs out the padding inside the box then...

A white card with a message on it. Underneath, a miniature vase, chipped at the side, holding an orchid.

 _Amai._ Jolted by that, he reads what's on the card.

Nothing. There's nothing.

 _Of course there is. You're a scientist. All you've gotta do is view it in a different light._

"Oh no."

"Where do you think you're going?" Bree yells after him.

Leo ignores her. Instead, he runs to his room—

And finds it completely trashed. The order that existed there is no more.

Ignoring that for now, he digs through what's in there. He goes through a pile, and in the next one, he finds it.

He turns on the UV light. "Come on, come on, come on," he says, shaking it as it flickers. Then, once on, he shades the card with his hand.

 _Amber_ _, CA_ _– Chuck's pad._

 _Get here by 2 PM, or else we give Doc a human to test things on._

 _x Your very creative friends at Hangar 72_

Leo fumes. He's positive that it's Vanessa's handwriting.

He comes back to the living room and head towards Skylar and Tasha. "I know where he is."

"The package really is a message?" Skylar asks.

"Where is he?" Chase demands.

Leo's jaw clenches and unclenches. "Kalopsia and The Doctor have him."

"What?"

"You did this," Chase says. He advances towards Leo with a balled fist. "This is all your fault."

Instinctively, Leo grabs one of the blasters sitting on top of a crate and points it towards Chase, stopping him short. "I won't, if I were you," he warns him.

"Leo," Adam says, confused, disillusioned. "What are you doing?"

"If you're going to blame somebody for this, blame Adam. He's the one who really started everything!" Leo tells Chase.

"Honey," Tasha coaxes, "don't do this to your brothers. Okay? This is not what you should be doing."

"No," Leo agrees. "This is _exactly_ what I should have done a long time ago."

"How can you do this to us?" Bree says.

Leo's mouth curls into a sly, humorless grin. They've pushed him aside, used him when convenient, and then threw him away when association with him was deemed socially unacceptable. How can _he_ do this to _them?_ He nods at the prisoner number on his suit. "I'm a villain, Bree. Don't you remember?"

A cold, bitter glare comes onto the bionic's face, feet shifting to super speed. "Then you don't belong out here."

" _Hanseh!_ "

Bree stops in her track as the light sentinel flits in front of her face. She stares at it, terrified, and slowly backs away as it comes closer to her.

Kaz, equally disturbed, stares at it. "What is that thing?"

"It's faster than Bree, that's for sure," Leo says. "So, if I were any of you, I won't give this apprehending me thing another try."

"I'm sure the League of Superheroes know you're here," Chase says, scowling.

"They do. In fact, they're probably on their way now," Leo says. A glance at the clock on his stepfather's desk tells him it's half an hour until noon. Upon quick calculation, he knows he's cutting it close.

He backs away to the door then pulls Skylar in front of him, aiming the blaster against her back.

"No!"

"Leo!"

"Any of you three try anything funny, both girls will be through," Leo tells Chase, Adam, and Kaz.

"Please, Leo," Kaz asks, a hand out to gesture him to stop. "Please don't hurt Skylar."

Bree frowns. "Uh, hello?" she says, still under the mercy of the light sentinel.

Leo chuckles.

"Leo," Skylar whispers back, one hand holding onto the forearm he's using to hold her close, the other holding onto the hand where he has the blaster. "What are you doing?"

Leo slowly clicks on the safety of the blaster, hoping she understands that he's still on the same side. "What do you think?" he says, backing up to the door.

Skylar resists for a few seconds, unsure at first. Then, to Leo's relief, she relaxes in his hold and goes along.

"Leo, sweetheart—"

"I've got to save him, Mom. I'm sorry, but this is the only way," Leo tells his mother. It saddens him to realize that they've run out of time. He still wants to tell her _thank you, I love you, I will never forget everything you've done for me—_ but he's out of time.

If he wants to save his stepfather, he has to leave now.

"No sudden movements. I mean it," Leo warns Chase, Adam, and Kaz once again. He whistles, and the light sentinel flutters towards the door.

He continues to back away with Skylar in his arm until they reach the end of the driveway. He keys in the password and then comes outside when it opens. "I'm sorry," he tells Skylar once they're out. He chuckles. "It's a turn off, huh? Me hiding behind you?"

He takes off the safety on the blaster. Then, he spins Skylar around, handing her the blaster in the process. When she stops, they're facing each other, the device in her hand and the barrel pointing straight to his chest.

Skylar's eyes widen. "Oh. Uh..."

Leo fastens her hands onto the blaster. "I do know them, Skylar. Kalopsia, Corvus Black, Rhapsode," he tells her, because out of everything she's done she deserves to know. "But I don't know them by those names. I know them as Vanessa, Chuck, and Seo Woo. I don't know them as villains, I know them as my friends."

He smiles. He takes out the necklace Perseus gave him. "Remember this?" he says to her. "It told me who I am in all of this. Do you know what?"

"You're The Balance."

Leo's smile evaporates in surprise.

It's Skylar's turn to smile. "I've had a hunch, ever since the symbol for The 7 appeared. You were just talking about your invention, and how you were going to change the shape, then the sphere appeared." She shrugs, laughing as she gestures to the necklace. "I was off a bit, of course, but...I knew. It was never Chase. It's always been you."

"Then, you know what I must mean for both good people and bad people," Leo says. He takes a deep breath. "I'm going to where they're holding Big D, just me, by myself. I don't know what will happen once I'm with them. You're still a superhero, Skylar, and it's your job to prevent bad things from happening."

Skylar doesn't follow at first. Then, it clicks. Her eyes widen, her hold on the blaster weakening. "I am _not_ going to kill you."

Leo holds the blaster in place.

Skylar's grip on the blaster slackens despite Leo's hand holding hers in place. "Don't ask me to do that," she says.

"If you don't and the villains end up using me, they'll blame you. They'll view you as a worse criminal than Titan Red."

"I don't care about what they think! I care about what's right!" Skylar pulls her hands off the blaster then takes the object strapped to her right ankle. "Do you know where you need to go?" she asks.

Leo frowns but nods nonetheless.

Skylar puts a smaller, more compact version of the transporter in his hand. "Hold down the blue button so the portal will stay open."

Leo's eyes widen. He shakes his head. "No," he refuses. "Skylar, this is your ticket home. If the League of Superheroes gets here, you need a way out. I can't—"

"I'll find another way. Right now, you and Mr. Davenport need a way back home." A sad smile comes onto Skylar's face. "I couldn't save my friends from Rodyssius when he and his children attacked Mighty Med. But you, you have a chance now to save your father. That's more important to me."

Leo smiles. Knowing no argument can change her mind, he points the transporter to the empty space in front of him then holds down the blue button. The scene of Chuck's mansion, dead and inconspicuous under the bright rays of the late morning sun, unfolds.

"Leo."

Leo, halfway inside the portal, looks back at Skylar.

For a moment, she hesitates. Then, "Come back safe. Okay?" she says. "Come back safe so we can run away."

Leo smiles. Run away with her. That is his dream and hope all in one.

But then he remembers what Amai said. The probability of the two of them ending up together is low for now. _She's a galaxy out of my reach._

He steps inside fully, the two of them now standing in two different worlds. "We'll see each other again one day, somewhere in the stars." Then, he tosses the device through the portal.

Skylar catches it on reflex. When she looks up to protest, Leo and the unfamiliar world behind him is gone.

Meanwhile, in Amber, Leo sighs. There's nothing else he wants but to be with her and to have more time to say goodbye to his mother, but right now his reality is only able to buy him this much.

He also has his stepfather to save, one of the last few people who still believe in him.

 _I'm coming,_ he tells Donald as he heads towards the towering black gates of Corvus Black's mansion.

* * *

 _Next: Chapter Twenty-Six - Hangar X_


	26. Hangar X

_Why don't we make it a double update day? It's Monday, and why not? :)_

 _Thanks to NaguraFlames, Cinnybun, and AGW. You're all awesome._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six

 _ **Hangar X**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

"Vanessa! Amai! Where are you? I'm here now!"

His descent to the underground is poorly lit and fueled by anger. He knows he could've thought about this a lot better. He's briskly going down cobblestone steps, one sealed under wooden doors that he wouldn't have found if not for a pair of crows, not even knowing whether he'll find down there what he's looking for.

But Vanessa said Amber in her letter. Amber, to him, only means Chuck's home.

If anything, the secluded location is perfect for whatever stand-off she had planned for them.

Reaching the bottom, he finds a heavy iron door riddled with intricate bolt locks, separating him from whatever's beyond it. He skims for any keypads but finds none. "Vanessa!" he screams. He pounds his fist against the door. "Open this door! I came just like you told me to!"

There's a pause.

Then, the locks begin moving.

When the iron doors finally part, it's Chuck who's standing on the other side. "Leo?" he says, puzzled. "What are you doing here? How did you find this? How did you even get out?"

Leo ignores him and charges ahead. "Where's Vanessa?"

"Whoa there," Chuck says, holding him back. He laughs. "Is everything okay? Why are you looking for Vanessa all of a sudden?"

"Because she has my dad," Leo says. Though he looks at Chuck, he doesn't see him. He doesn't see anything but his rage. "Where's Vanessa?"

"Last I spoke to her, she was leaving to speak to Amai and Nisha about something." Chuck lets him go. His brows furrow. "You said she has Donald Davenport?"

"She sent me a ransom note," Leo says. He checks his pocket to show Chuck but realizes he has left it at the house. He huffs in annoyance. "Whatever. My dad. She told me I should come here by 2, or else she hands him over to Doc to have fun with."

Chuck crosses his arms and tilts his head thoughtfully. "That doesn't sound like Vanessa."

"Everything's upside-down for me right now so I don't really know who's good and who's bad anymore," Leo says. He looks around the room bathed in neon blue lighting and strings of spotlights. Several long strides behind Chuck, he sees a door leading to somewhere. _Bingo._

"Hey—Leo—" Chuck anchors him in place as he attempts to charge. "Stop."

Leo stares at him, eyes filled with surprise. It then changes to betrayal then to disillusionment then anger. "Are you in this with her?" he demands.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Why aren't you letting me go?" Leo says, trying to pull his arm away.

Chuck patiently holds onto him. "Leo, if it hasn't occurred to you by now, this is my property, part of my house," he explains kindly. "I have a right to restrict you from going to places I don't need you going into, now don't I?"

Leo continues to struggle at first, but the reasoning gets to him – like water soaking then corroding a rock solid material. Eventually, he acquiesces. He yanks his arm halfheartedly from Chuck's grasp.

"Good. Thank you," Chuck says. He heads towards the bar, one that, while a lot more modern and structured than the one in Hangar 72, is smaller. He ducks underneath it then comes up with an empty glass and a bottle of something clear. "I'll call Vanessa to see what all of this is about," he says, pouring the drink into the cup. "But before that, I think you need to drink this."

Leo eyes it suspiciously when Chuck hands it to him. "What I need right now is to see Amai, Nisha, and Vanessa."

"You look like absolute crap. A cactus in the desert looks better than you," Chuck says, a little irritated now with him. "If you're going into some kind of verbal battle with Vanessa, do yourself a favor and look at least a bit more decent."

"Not until I see my stepdad first."

"Drink this, or I'm not calling her."

Leo glares at Chuck. He really has no time for this. For all he knows, Doc is somewhere out there sharpening his scalpel and boiling up whatever concoction he's been fancying to test on a normal human.

But he's got no other way to get to her. Chuck's the fastest way to go.

So, he snatches the small glass from the ex-villain and downs the drink in one go.

It occurs to him that he could've been given something alcoholic. It tastes a little funny, like a watered-down liquefied plastic with a hint of fruity sweetness. It burns a bit on the way down, too. But he can't care about it too much. He has three women to confront.

"I'm guessing they starved you while you were being detained?" Chuck says as he returns to the bar.

 _Starved is an understatement,_ Leo thinks but doesn't say.

However, Chuck understands his silence as confirmation. He nods, his mouth hinting at a smile as he clicks on a button underneath the counter. "That's good," he says. "This works for the best, too."

Leo frowns. "What?"

"Okay—"

"They treated me worse than an animal! How was that a good thing?"

Chuck sighs. "I didn't say _that_ was a good thing."

"Yes you did. You just—"

The door near the bar suddenly opens.

"There you are," Leo hisses upon seeing Vanessa and Nisha. He surprises Vanessa by advancing quickly towards her. "Where's my stepdad?"

"Okay, first, can you back up for a minute?" Vanessa says, holding up a hand to stop him from getting any closer. She catches sight of his clothes and the offended expression furrowed in her features slowly vanishes. "Those lowlifes. What did they do to you?"

"Never mind what they did to me," Leo says. He pauses and forces himself to breathe. All of this anger is making his head swim. "How could you do this to me? I get that you're mad about what happened at the Hangar, but how can you pull my stepdad into this? I thought you were better than that."

"What are you talking about?"

"You and Amai kidnapped Big D. You sent me that..." Leo shuts his eyes tightly. After hours of food and water deprivation, his body's starting to ask back something from him now. His head is hurting, and all the faces and lights are starting to blend together. _Not right now,_ he tells himself. _Big D is still in danger._

"Leo...Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he snaps. He blinks back the tilting images in front of his eyes and looks at Vanessa straight. "You sent me a ransom note. In the package. With the bird."

"A bird?"

"A flower," Leo corrects himself. He shuts his eyes again. _What's wrong with me?_ He huffs out a breath, forcing his body to cooperate a little longer. "It's one of the orchids I gave Amai. The note says 'Amber, CA – Chuck's place.' Get here by 2 AM...or else...Doc...My stepdad..."

"2...AM?"

"PM."

"Hey. Seriously, are you—"

Leo steps away out of Vanessa's reach, which doesn't seem to have been a good idea considering he now feels as if giant rubber bubbles are expanding inside his head. "Don't," he breathes out, grabbing onto a nearby chair to steady himself. "Just—"

Vanessa observes him for a quick moment then looks at Chuck. Still confused, she tells Leo patiently, "Leo, I didn't send you anything. Nisha, Seo Woo, and I have been planning to intercept your transport all morning. We're supposed to be rescuing you."

Lie or truth? Lie or truth?

Leo's grip on the chair tightens a little when he realizes his lungs have adopted a shallower, steadier pattern, one that's _definitely_ not suited for a person awake. _Work, you dumb things!_ he chides. He takes a deep breath. "Liar," he manages to breathe out.

"I'm not."

Leo doesn't see the worried gazes both Nisha and Seo Woo direct toward him. He doesn't see the accusatory look Vanessa shoots Chuck's way either. Like earlier, all he's preoccupied with is one thing: remaining on his feet long enough to find his stepfather.

He opens his eyes and focuses on the door the three came from. He needs to check if his stepdad is there. He needs to see before he believes Vanessa.

"Leo—"

"...out of my way," Leo says, weakly pushing Vanessa out of the way.

"I'm telling you, he's not here!"

Leo staggers, fights the building headache and the dark spots flashing in front of his eyes.

"Leo."

He takes three more steps—but each only takes him closer and closer to the ground.

"Ooh."

"Hey!"

Leo feels as if he took a dive into a pool of Jell-O. He hit the ground face first, but he doesn't feel it. He doesn't feel the pain or hear the sounds outside his slowed down world. It barely even registers that someone has turned him downside up and is holding him in their arms.

He only picks up the hint of citrus, green tea, and a spice he's smelled in his favorite bakery when he was little but can't remember the name of.

It's defined and strong, yet comforting at the same time. It reminds him a little of third grade, of the teacher who told him after class that it's okay to cry when he gets hurt. It reminds him a little of Douglas, when he took him out for coffee during one of the worst days in his life.

It reminds him of the snowy forest up in the mountain, when he thought he was going to die at the hands of Titan Red because no one listened to him but was saved instead.

It reminds him of that. It reminds him of that a lot.

" _Sunbaenim..."_

"Chuck! What did you do?" he hears Vanessa's voice somewhere in the distance. A shadow towers over him, and he guesses from the shape that it's her.

There's a reply, an inaudible grumble that's lost to the fading world. Then, in a cold, detached, and unfamiliar tone, "It's better if he can't fight it. Our plan will go a lot smoother this way."

 _Plan? What plan?_ he thinks.

But he falls into a deep sleep before any answer can come.

* * *

 _Penultimate chapter: Chapter Twenty-Seven - It's All Just A Dream_


	27. It's All Just A Dream

_Big thanks once again to AGW, NaguraFlames, and Cinnybun!_ _Hope you're all having a nice Tuesday!_

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Seven

 _ **It's All Just A Dream**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _He's tired. So, so tired._

 _When he first met Adam, Bree, and Chase, watching them train is one of the things he looked forward to the most. He'd get to see their abilities in display, and his stepfather would bring out some really cool things for them to enhance their abilities with._

 _He still remembers the sandbags, the ones Chase and their father would attach to Adam. He tried a few of them on one time. His stepsiblings laughed because of how he fell pathetically after just a couple of bags were attached to him._

 _That's how it feels like right now: like all of the sandbags in the world are attached to him. It also feels as if he's getting laughed at for being pathetic._

 _He's tired._

 _"I hate this thing."_

 _Laughter, from a girl. Brief but meaningful._

 _Maybe he really is getting laughed at._

 _"There. Looks nice on you."_

 _"Thanks. If it were up to me, I really wouldn't've worn this."_

 _"But they'll only recognize you if you are."_

 _A sigh. "Unfortunately."_

 _There's a pause as thick and heavy as the sand under the sea._

 _"Chuck? What if he wakes up during..."_

 _"He might. But I really hope he wouldn't. He shouldn't."_

 _He hears ocean waves somewhere in the dark, but he thinks it's just his imagination. Still, it reminds him of the sand._

 _Sand on the seashore._

 _Sand inside the weights._

 _It's heavy. So, so heavy._

 _He's tired. So tired._

 _So he sleeps._

* * *

 _"Oh my—What in the world is_ that _?"_

 _"Blood."_

 _"Blood?! Whose?"_

 _"My enemies', of course."_

 _"... Wha—I mean, where did you even get that from?"_

 _"Storage."_

 _"Storage? You stored blood?"_

 _"You don't?"_

 _"..."_

 _"Relax, Nisha. It's not actual blood. It's just corn syrup dyed red. You like?"_

 _"This is too much."_

 _"Yeah, whatever."_

 _"Okay—Oh, no. Ew. You're making a mess."_

 _"Yeah, but does that look decent enough?"_

 _"Vanessa, why would you pour that on him?"_

 _"Decorative purposes."_

 _"... I...I'm gonna go help test the connection or something."_

* * *

 _"Corvus Black."_

 _The voice that rang from the speakers wakes him up._

 _It's not a quick waking up like those moments in countless mornings where his alarm would scream and his brain would flick on almost as quick as his eyes would open. This one is slow, so slow that he doesn't even know if he's awake at all. He feels his head lolling around weakly and his eyelids laboring to go up. He tries to move his hands, too._

 _But all that the effort afforded him is a dim preview of light shining on him._

 _That, and the uncomfortable fact that he's bound to a chair._

 _"Want, Mr. Davenport? I don't want anything." Chuck, but he sounds so distant, so cold. "But I believe I have in my possession something that you're familiar with?"_

 _There's a gasp. "Leo."_

 _"What did you do to him?" Chase—it was Chase earlier, too—demands._

 _"Played with him, that's all." Vanessa. "He wasn't cooperating, so..."_

 _The words following that evaporate into the void for a couple of seconds. He only realizes he had fallen asleep for a few minutes until he wakes up again to someone yelling._

 _Probably Chase again._

 _Come to think about it, for a guy who's supposedly introverted, he sure does do a lot of talking._

 _"That's what I love most about superheroes." Vanessa. "Everything revolves around them. '_ I'm _the special person,_ I'm _the one who have the power,_ I'm _the best._ I'm _the only one who can put away the bad guys. It makes sense that_ I _am the one they're going after.' Fun. Everything's always about you."_

 _"That's not true."_

Bree, _he thinks._

 _"Really, speedster? You're telling me you weren't so busy trying to stroke your ego and establish your credentials with the League of Superheroes that you neglected to protect the real Balance?"_

 _"I wasn't stroking my ego."_

 _"I was mocking your entire team but thanks for the confirmation that you bionics are selfish, too." Vanessa scoffs. "I can't believe Centium City's finest super team would be this careless. But then again, it doesn't take a lot to distract you. All we need is a ranking that lists who the most important member is, and all five of you lose it."_

 _The speakers emit a sound, something interesting and non-threatening._

 _"What. You really thought you can get me through the screen?"_

 _"I will find you," Bree seethes, "and I will—"_

 _"Betray my teammates' brother, just like Oliver did?"_

 _"What?"_

 _He's distracted from the conversation by another quieter one that happens some distance behind him. He hears whispers, a little harsher than normal due to the louder conversation in front. The conversation seems innocent, though. It's more relaxed._

 _Nisha and Amai are the ones talking, if he's not mistaken._

 _Are they talking about food?_

 _He groans, forces himself to open his eyes just to be sure of what's really happening. That silences everyone, including Amai and Nisha. It's a nervous stillness, as if something that wasn't supposed to happen is happening._

 _"Looks like he's waking up," he hears Vanessa say, her voice clearer and sounding less far away._

 _They're waiting, it seems._

 _But all of it goes to waste. He's still too tired to do anything more than move his head pathetically and heave some breaths._

 _"Farren Tech. Is that what you want?" his stepfather desperately appeals. "Do you want Martin Farren in exchange of my son?"_

 _"Martin Farren?" Vanessa asks, more interested in his stepfather now than she is of him._

 _"I'll give him to you. I'll burn his company down to the ground if that's what you want. Just...just give me back my son."_

 _"Careful, Mr. Davenport," Chuck cautions. "The entire earth can hear us."_

 _Behind him, Leo hears rapid typing._

 _"Tempting, but no, thank you," Vanessa says. "We'll get to Martin Farren and Farren Tech in time. For right now, having him—" the chair leans a little with her weight—"is most important. What's in his head is worth so much more. Did you know that he was developing technology that can turn countless gifted people, well, normal? Your kids, other heroes, even villains – no one is safe."_

 _"Leo would never do something like that."_

 _"Intentionally, no. He wouldn't. He wanted it to be a force for good, something he can use to help others less fortunate. But – the heroes blew their chance. Everyone was so worried about Chase that we were able to trick him into thinking we were his friends. You know what's sad? It was a lot easier than we expected. You even pushed him away towards us by accusing him of being a villain."_

 _"Don't ever think that—"_

 _"What, he will cooperate with us? He may be immune to my abilities, but...he's not immune to this little thing. Crafted specifically for his kind. It will make him highly...suggestible."_

 _"His kind?"_

 _"He's not from Earth, Mr. Davenport. You didn't know that?"_

 _For a moment, he remembers Perseus. Is he safe? Did he make it out of the League facility alive? He promised they would meet again. He said the answer could wait until then._

 _He believes that. Though he's worried and scared for him, he believes Perseus will come and see him again – wherever he may be._

 _"Take this as your warning, heroes: your days of hiding in the dark are over," Chuck announces, his voice grave and defensive. "You have made us something lower in the eyes of others when you yourselves hide within your ranks monsters. You protect criminals and put them in pedestals to make people think you are clean and faultless in your morality. But you lie: your hands are as bloodied as ours. Out of all the groups, the League of Superheroes is the worst offender._

 _"You have an hour to get on your knees and beg the world for forgiveness for the crimes that your hero, Titan Red, has committed. Following this broadcast, we will release all the crimes he's committed as well as his attitude for these to everyone who has eyes and ears in this planet. If you ignore us and don't beg for mercy, we have a couple of more people on our list who we'd like to talk about."_

 _"Your reign is over, heroes," Vanessa says. "It's time for us to play the cards we've been holding to our advantage."_

 _They continue to talk, but slowly the words drift farther. He thinks of Titan Red and how he must feel about this. He also tries to plot a way to get out of this situation, but for some reason his thoughts keep coming back to his parents, how they're doing._

 _The image of them replays over and over again, like a five-second video on repeat._

 _Sooner than he thought, he's back to sleep._

* * *

 _"What was that?"_

 _"What was what?"_

 _"The thing you showed them. The crystal. You said it's something we can use on Leo."_

 _A girl chuckles. "It was just a piece from a costume jewelry Chuck gave me years ago. It's fallen apart, but I still have the pieces."_

 _Laughter. "Really?"_

 _"Yeah."_

 _"I can't believe they actually bought that."_

 _"I can. Like I told this guy, superheroes are so overrated. They're overly dramatic that they pretty much buy into everything when they're desperate."_

 _There's a long pause, then, "When do you think he'll wake up?"_

 _"I don't know. Though—" she shuffles, "Leo, it would be great if you wake up. You'd slept enough."_

 _"He can't hear us, Vanessa."_

 _"Of course he can. Watch. He'll tell us he'd been listening the whole time as soon as he wakes up."_

* * *

 _"It's in chaos, but we have to let it run its course."_

 _Those words stick in his mind like gum. He tries to ply it, shape it, stretch it, but it doesn't give his brain anything substantial to chew upon._

 _It just doesn't make sense._

* * *

 _"Chuck, he's been sleeping for_ days. _Are you sure he isn't dead?"_

 _"Come on, Vanessa. I may be rusty, but I still know how to engineer a sufficient sedative."_

 _"Are you sure? He should be awake by now."_

 _"Of course I am." There's a long pause. "Maybe. Did I put a teaspoon or a tablespoon of that one thing?"_

 _Sighs and huffs of protest follow. Somewhere in the distance, there's a soft snicker._

 _"Chuck."_

 _"Okay, okay. Let me check..."_

* * *

Final chapter: Chapter Twenty-Eight - A Brand New Adventure


	28. A Brand New Adventure

_Thanks once again to AGW, Cinnybun, and NaguraFlames for your reviews!_

 _Last chapter of the story! BUT - is it the last update?_

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Eight

 _ **A Brand New Adventure**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

He opens his eyes—and he thinks he's going to be sick.

The ceiling above dances this spiral, confusing dance, where the tiles or whatever they are do this unstable, swaying motion. It feels as if the ridges of his brain twist along with it, and it's causing his empty stomach to lurch and squeeze in a very, very uncomfortable way.

He closes his eyes again.

He really thinks he's going to be sick.

He swallows air (his mouth is so dry) then counts to ten. Afterwards, he slowly opens his eyes again to give waking up another go.

Better. The patterns above are steadier. His brain can process the images better, too.

Slowly, he gets up. The bed he's on is huge, almost fit for a king. The sheets are dark gray, smooth and comfortable to the touch. Looking around, he sees that it compliments the room. It's spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows that reveal an alluring array of bamboo trees and outstandingly green shrubs outside. There are also some purple plants he hasn't seen before, but then again he's never been very knowledgeable with plant life.

He swings his feet to the floor, and immediately he feels the cool marble underneath. It's gray and shiny like the sheets, and it feels so nice against the skin.

 _Where in the world am I?_ he wonders.

He takes a deep breath (throwing up on this floor just would not be a good idea) and then carefully gets up.

The landscape tilts a bit after a few steps so he steadies himself on the doorpost with his eyes closed. It's then he feels the sleeves of his shirt. Looking at it, he sees that he's wearing a two-piece garment he's never owned or worn before – at least not until now. The shirt is long and wears like cotton, with sleeves that go all the way to his wrist and hem that cuts off at the middle of his thighs. The black trousers underneath feels the same.

 _How did I end up in these?_ He thinks and thinks of the last thing he did before waking up.

Then he remembers.

He was running away from the League of Superheroes.

He was looking for his stepfather.

He was arguing with Vanessa.

He winces as a sharp pain wedges itself in the middle of his skull. How long has it been since he last ate? Tin Can and his lackeys starved him the night before. Just how long has he been out?

Despite the ebbing migraine, he staggers out to the corridor then heads to the right where he hears hushed conversations. It's probably not a good idea to meander about in a place he's unfamiliar with, but if he doesn't do anything the pain and the nausea will just get worse.

He arrives at the wide, common room but miscalculates the position of the wall. He ends up crashing to the floor, the added pain now turning the migraine and the nausea into a triple threat.

"Leo!" Vanessa exclaims.

Someone helps him up from the floor. Looking up, he sees it's Seo Woo, looking at him with a hint of worry in his eyes. "Thanks," he mutters after Seo Woo leans him against the wall.

Seo Woo says nothing, only goes back on his stool by the island.

Leo notes the scent of citrus, green tea, and cardamom Seo Woo left behind. For some reason, an image of him falling on the floor flashes in his mind.

"You must be starving. I'll have someone prepare food and some medicine for you," Nisha says. She walks towards another corridor but hesitates for a moment to glance at Seo Woo. Unlike at the Hangar where the glances are sweet and with longing, this one is charged with worry and apology.

Leo frowns as she leaves. _What's up with them?_

Vanessa crosses her arms and smirks. "So you finally decided to join the land of the living again," she teases.

"What happened?" Leo asks.

"I'm sorry, Leo. It was my fault," Chuck says, sitting up on his seat by the floor-to-ceiling windows. "I think I overshot the recipe for the sedative. I was off by a hair, but I forgot that with your changing system, it would be processed a lot differently."

Sedative? _The drink he insisted me to take._ "You drugged me?"

"Yeah. I had to. "

"Why would you—" Leo shuts his eyes tight. The added confusion is making him more nauseous. He takes a deep breath and keeps his eyes closed. "I thought you were my friend. How could you do that to me?" he says slowly, quietly.

"I had no choice. You were manic, for one, and you would've resisted if we just told you the plan."

His eyes pop open. "The plan? What plan?"

Chuck shrugs. "The plan of us kidnapping you."

Leo's brows furrow softly. He tries to make sense of it. Kidnapping him? "Okay, my brain is doing that weird loading thing and is coming up with nothing," he admits. "What?"

"Leo, we've known for weeks that you were The Balance the time traveler was looking for," Chuck explains. "Amai told us."

"Amai?"

"I told you, she's a brilliant tactician," Vanessa says, smirking. "You didn't think she wouldn't know, did you?"

Leo holds a hand up. "Wait. How did she know that? I didn't even confirm that until recently."

"She knew there was something about you that's different since day one," Vanessa says. "Just how, we don't know. Then eventually, things started happening, and by the time Doc said you weren't like us and when Titan Red came into the picture, she was positive you were the one Parallel was looking for. The 7 card only added to her calculation of which way this all would end. The rest is history."

"You said you didn't confirm until recently," Chuck brings out. "You had an idea it was you?"

Normally, Leo would be quick to say yes – he had a hunch that, as always, turned out correct. But instead of being proud of it, it only embarrasses him. "Kind of," he lies.

"The rest of us getting involved in it came as a surprise, though," Vanessa says thoughtfully. "Even Amai didn't know about it."

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Uh, we've been trying to." Vanessa chuckles. "Remember? Nisha practically told you everything we knew the night the Hangar was attacked. But what did you say?"

What did he say? He can barely even remember what happened before he woke up! He racks his brain nonetheless, and regretfully he finds another embarrassing answer. "I said it can only be Chase."

"I'm sorry this is how it all happened, but I hope you can understand why we did what we did," Chuck says. He points to him with an open palm. "If we didn't take you from your family, if we didn't use Donald Davenport as bait for you, you would've stayed behind on Earth, and you would've spent the rest of your life running."

 _Big D._ "Big D. Where is he?" Leo asks.

"Back in Mission Creek," Vanessa says.

"He was never in any real danger," Chuck adds. "I had Amai and Doc help me separate him from the ex-doctor then send him running in circles outside California. There were some LoS agents tailing them for a bit, but the people who helped us are experts in losing them."

Leo remembers Wynnford talking about his father, how he was going about asking for help. He feels relief that he had been safe all along, but he also feels pity for him. "Does he know I'm okay?"

Chuck and Vanessa exchange glances – one with an undercurrent of guilt. "He knows you're alive," Chuck vaguely answers.

"But...?"

"But?"

"I may feel like I'm on one of those Viking ships at the amusement park right now, but I saw that look," Leo says with light glare.

Chuck hesitates. Vanessa does, too, but eventually she caves in. "You don't remember us talking to your family while you were asleep?" she asks.

"You talked to them?"

"Yeah, via video call. You seemed like you were half-awake. You don't remember?"

A conversation? There are bits and pieces of memories flashing in his head like lightning in a tempestuous sea. He hears waves of voices here and there, but they're so fleeting and agile that he can't properly process them. "I kind of remember hearing Bree," he mumbles. "I heard you, too."

"Do you remember the conversation at all?"

Leo shakes his head.

Vanessa's head tilts in consideration. "Well, they know you're alive," she says, "but they're under the impression that we tortured you."

"What?!"

"They weren't our only audience," Vanessa explains matter-of-factly. "We wanted to scare them by using you."

"As you can tell, we didn't hurt you," Chuck says. "But Vanessa and Seo Woo thought it would be a good idea to make them think that."

"No, that wasn't a good idea!" Leo disagrees. He huffs. "Do you know how worried they would all be? My mom...She would cry! Why would you do that?"

"Like I said, Leo, I'm sorry, but there really was no other way," Chuck sincerely offers.

"If it helps, we gave her the assurance that you would remain alive with us," Vanessa says.

Though he's still furious, that answer allays it a little. "Okay. You told her I wasn't really hurt?" he confirms.

"We... _told_ them we still need you for something," Vanessa carefully replies. "I think that's enough to imply that we won't whack you off or anything."

"Need me for something?" Leo repeats.

He's surprised when Seo Woo hands him a sketchbook. He frowns at it as he receives it. As he leafs it open, he remembers. "My inventions!"

Vanessa smiles. "Perseus went back after Skylar, Sonara, and Continuum left with you from the facility. He went back to get that for you because he knows it's important to you."

 _Perseus._ Leo remembers the kindly man who helped him escape, the son of the warrior who risked his life to save him.

Remembering their last conversation, his hand searches for the necklace he gave him. He breathes out in relief when he finds it tucked safely under his shirt. He doesn't know what he'd do if he had lost it.

He pulls it out and stares at it. "His mother isn't a rebel," he tells Chuck.

"I know." Chuck smiles. "I never said she was."

Leo frowns. "You know Perseus?"

"Remember when I told you Nisha and I went to the mall to do something?" Vanessa says.

"Yeah."

"We were keeping an eye on him."

The frown on Leo's face deepens.

"Seo Woo has heard of another person taking an interest in you – besides us and Titan Red, of course," Chuck explains. "We didn't know what his reason was for tailing you so we dug up more information about him. He's pretty good at covering his tracks. I didn't connect him back to his mom until the night you came to my house. By then, he already knows about us. I called him after you left to meet up with your stepfather, and once we established his credibility we adjusted the plan to include you meeting him."

"But thanks to Titan Red, Chuck, Amai, and Perseus had to draft another plan of action, one that..." Vanessa smirks at Chuck, "he didn't tell us about."

"Sorry, kid. Crunch time," Chuck says, smiling at her.

"Well, what was the original plan?" asks Leo.

"You go home, get your stuff, get back to my place, and then we take you here," Chuck says.

"Where _is_ here?" Leo says, noticing how different the landscape outside looks.

"Kh'omrii," says Vanessa.

"Come again?"

Vanessa grins. "It's Nisha's home planet. About two million lightyears away from Earth."

Leo's eyes widen. "We're not on Earth?!"

"No. We haven't been for days," she says, chuckling. Then, her eyes narrow in thought. "Well, we've been here for almost a week, but in Earth time we've been gone probably...five months?"

Chuck nods to confirm.

"Wait – five months?" Leo takes a breath, his head spinning again.

Five months? His family hasn't seen him for _five months_? And they think he was tortured. Vanessa said they know he would be preserved alive, but he knows his parents won't feel at peace unless they see him okay.

And five months? His life was turned upside-down in a matter of about a month and a half. A lot of things could have happened in five months.

Reading his expression, Chuck assures, "Your family is fine, Leo. We check on them. They took in a bit of heat from the superhero community for the first few days after the broadcast, but everybody's forgotten about that."

"What broadcast?"

"The one where we told the world that the League of Superheroes have skeletons in their big, shiny, expensive closet," Vanessa says. She shrugs. "We also revealed to everyone that you were who everyone's looking for, which is why the heroes were upset with your family for a few days as Chuck said."

Chuck puts up a hand as Leo opens his mouth. "Your family's fine, Leo. We promise," he says. "Amai calculated everything way ahead of time. Fleeting public anger was the best option they could have gotten."

"As oppose to what? Not being known by Titan Red's friends as the family of the guy who did this to them?"

"Oh, none of them are in a hurry to identify themselves with him." The curl on Vanessa's lips grows. "As of the last update, the League of Superheroes is under extreme scrutiny after we released the files and recordings we have of Titan Red. It's making even the real and honest heroes nervous. What more of the twisted ones?"

"What about Wynnford? Where is he now?"

"Hiding. He's been removed from the League," Chuck says.

"All of his sponsors are backing out, and no one wants to do any business with him." Vanessa sits on the arm of the lounging chair opposite the one Chuck occupies. She crosses her arms. "People want him in prison. Right now, he's considered a fugitive."

"Oh, man," Leo mumbles. For a moment, he remembers talking to Wynnford while they detained him. He told him that justice will find him. _It seems like it caught up with him._ His eyes widen. "What about Oliver? What happened to him?"

The content expression in Vanessa's face dims slightly, giving way to a more somber smile. "He's being disciplined," she answers. "The League has agreed to keep knowledge of the extent of his involvement with Titan Red secret in exchange of him being deactivated as a superhero for three years and him getting the help he needs psychologically."

Leo always thought that he would feel great hearing that the vengeful ex-doctor gets the penalty he deserves for doing the things he's done, but he doesn't. He feels...sorry. He's mad at him for being so careless, for getting involved with Titan Red's ploys, and for almost getting him killed, but he doesn't want these repercussions for him. If he really, really peered down to the heart of the matter, he knows he will find that Oliver was just as lost as he was.

"What," Vanessa prompts.

"Oliver just needed a friend," Leo says with a sad smile. "I know he's not a bad person."

Vanessa smiles – a small yet warm and genuine one.

Chuck also does the same. "He's going to be okay," he tells him. "The man who gave you to your mom, the social worker. Benjamin Sterling? The League of Superheroes has hired him to help Oliver out on his recovery. He's moving to Nova Scotia in Canada where Mr. Sterling lives. It's a safer, quieter place for him. His best friend has agreed to come with him."

"Which one? He has, like, four of them."

"Kaz? The other ex-doctor."

"Oh." The uncomfortable knot in his chest unwinds. He doesn't know what he would have felt if Skylar had been the one to go.

His insides squeeze painfully with dread. "Skylar," he says. "Where is she?"

"Caldera," Vanessa answers.

"Caldera."

"Yeah."

He breathes out in relief. "Oh good. She did go home."

"Not exactly." When Leo looks up, she tells him, "She followed you to Chuck's basement."

" _What?!"_

"What did you expect she would do, just mosey on out of Earth while you're taking on some big time villains?" Vanessa asks, chuckling.

"Okay, first of all, how did you even know that?"

"The crows outside the house told me," Seo Woo says before downing his shot.

Leo stares at him, incredulous. "Okay, I'm gonna need you to stop spying on me with your birds."

"She's all right," Chuck tells Leo, amused and relieved by the twenty year-old's livelier reactions. "She walked in just a little after you passed out. She was going to put up a fight for you, but..."

"But what?"

"But we didn't want to hurt her," Vanessa says.

"So what did you do?"

"Nisha told her that you're safe, that we'll keep you safe. Then, I put her to sleep."

As he had with his stepfather, he felt sorry for Skylar. She was with him until the end, and she never left him. _I wish we had a little bit more time,_ he tells Skylar in his mind. "You took her to Caldera afterwards?"

Vanessa nods. "Nisha did. She contacted one of Skylar's sisters, told her about what happened, and then handed her over."

"How did you even know she was wanting to go back to Caldera?"

"Sonam told me."

Leo whips around towards the familiar voice. He stares in disbelief as she walks out, clad in a longer, more colorful version of the garment he's wearing, towards the group of chairs where Vanessa and Chuck sit.

Dinah smiles. "Leo."

"Super Nova."

"It's been a while."

Earlier, his head swam in raging seas. Now, it seems as if the synapses in his brain are shorting out. "How – How are you alive?" he asks.

"I was never dead," Dinah says. She takes a seat on the middle lounging chair.

"But I saw you..."

"I would have died if I was left up there on the mountain a few more minutes, yes," Dinah agrees. She then nods at Seo Woo. "But he saved me. He, Princess Nisha, and Corvus saved me."

"Wait." Leo looks at Chuck. "Princess?"

Chuck grins at his drink.

Vanessa smirks.

"Okay, this is wild," Leo mutters to himself. To Dinah he says, "Mark was devastated about what happened."

Dinah nods. "I know he was. He told me so," she says with a sad smile.

"You've talked to him?"

"Yes. After he rescued you and after Skylar Storm had fallen asleep, I met with him."

Leo nods. "Is it safe to assume you were recovering here?"

"It is, because I was," Dinah replies.

"Dinah has been of great help to us in getting you out, too," Chuck says. "She organized your escape from the League's facility."

"Perseus couldn't access the floor plan of the whole building because he doesn't have clearance, but League members like me do. So, I gave him the things he needed to access the files, and he had the floor plans sent to Mark and Sonam."

"She may or may not have accessed Titan Red's expunged records, too, and gave it to us," Vanessa says.

Leo's brows hitch. "You helped them expose Tin Can?"

Dinah's lips pull into a pleased, guilty smile. "I can be very forgiving of almost all wrong things done against me," she says. "But manipulating me is something I cannot let go. Normally, if Corvus had explained to me the things I know now, I would've called him a liar. But Wynnford's action at the mountain coupled with the news that the League of Superheroes was just going to go along with his plan of pinning everything on you made me a little bit more...open-minded."

"Well," Leo says, "what are you going to do now? Are you going to testify against him?"

"The records speak enough for themselves. Wynnford is guilty," Dinah says. "As far as testifying, doing that will result in the League knocking on my door, asking me to do what they want. I believe they've done enough to my family. As of the day Titan Red shot me, I was no longer a member of the League of Superheroes."

"Okay...?"

"Dinah will be part of the 7, along with her son Mark," Chuck informs him.

Leo's eyes narrow. "But, wouldn't that make us 9 instead of 7?"

"No, it won't – because you, Vanessa, Nisha, and Seo Woo will not be joining us for now," Chuck says.

"What? Why not?"

Vanessa darts an apologetic glance at Seo Woo's back before saying, "Nisha can't join us because she has a responsibility to Kh'omrii. Her aunt doesn't want to stand in her place any longer, and with her being of age, she needs to oversee her kingdom and become the queen."

Leo looks at Seo Woo and sees the reason for the hardened expression on his face. He wants to ask whether Nisha would be reigning with a king, but something tells him that the tradition in the land probably stipulates that there can be no husband for the monarch – especially not one from a different planet.

He looks away; he doesn't want his gaze to become like a punch on Seo Woo's face. "What about the three of us?" he asks Chuck instead. "What did we do?"

"Nothing," Chuck says. "You didn't do anything wrong. In fact, the three of you had been a big part of founding The 7—especially you, Leo."

"I told you you were interesting," Vanessa tells him, smirking.

Leo's glad to hear that he seems to have contributed towards something good – but in all honesty, he's still confused. Aren't the three of them supposed to be part of it, too? Did he guess wrong? Was he just supposed to help start it by becoming the catalyst to Titan Red being ousted and stripped of his power?

Glancing at the lush landscape of plants and flowers (he guesses they're flowers), he suddenly remembers the island. Will his family be hiding there for the mean time as the sour public opinion toward them passes?

With Skylar gone to Caldera and Oliver and Kaz off to Canada with Agent Sterling, Bree and Chase will need to make a huge adjustment, one that he knows they never planned on when they came back to Mission Creek with Brannon and their team just a few weeks ago.

They will need him there. His parents and his siblings and the rest of his family will need his help to fix the things that has been left shattered. "When am I going back to Earth then?" Leo asks Vanessa and Chuck.

Dinah seems to have quickly understood how he came to the conclusion and has to smother a smile.

Vanessa and Chuck, however, are confused. "When are you...going back to Earth?" Chuck repeats.

"Yeah," Leo says. "I mean, I already finished my part, right? Just, start this thing against Tyrant Red, see it through then I go back home. Right? Like Katniss Everdeen."

Chuck, lost with the reference, looks to Vanessa for an explanation.

Vanessa only smirks at Leo. "Leo, what part of 'we kidnapped you' didn't you understand?"

Leo tries to process that but fails. His brows furrow. "Huh?"

"You're our hostage. Hostages don't just walk out whenever they feel like it," Vanessa explains. "You told me Victor Krane has held you hostage before. You know how this goes."

"Oh," Chuck finally gets it. "He thinks—"

Vanessa nods.

"But, it was all just pretend, wasn't it? To scare the bad people off?" Leo says, worried that he might actually never get back to his family. "I already did what I needed to do. I helped build this," he gestures widely to the three of them, "I acted as decoy to draw Titan Red out. You've got your members figured out, and I'm more than wiling to help you guys if you need my help in the future. I've nothing else to do for you. Why can't I see my family?"

"Because the moment people catch wind that you're back on Earth, all kinds of chaos will break loose." After seeing the dread and desperation in Leo's face, Chuck sympathetically explains, "Leo, you can't go back to Earth. I know you're worried about your family, but you have an important role to play now. You won't be helping them by being with them."

"But, with everything that's happening, they need me to help them—"

"They're grown adults, Leo, just like you. They can take care of themselves," Chuck says patiently.

"I know that. But..." Leo tries to think of reasons why he should come back: his parents need him, his siblings will miss him. He needs to build his inventions to help others.

But none of those things are solid enough to use to his advantage. With his sketchbook safe and sound in his arm, he knows that wherever he goes, he can build things to help others. As far as his family...

He sighs. As far as his family, he knows deep inside that they don't need him anymore. His parents love him very much, but as far as the rest – their affection towards him has faded a long time ago.

He knows that to be true. All he needs as proof is the night of the truth serum incident.

But then... "Naomi," Leo notes quietly, dejectedly. "If I don't come back, she will never know who I am. I might be a bit jealous of her but, she's my little sister."

Chuck smiles empathetically. He wants to say something that will comfort him but finds that he has not the words for it.

Dinah, however, does. "Your father and mother love you very much. I doubt they will ever raise Naomi without telling her about you," she says. Leo looks at her, a spark of hope in his eyes. She smiles a wider smile. "Trust me, I know. I am a mother. Despite the differences I've had with Mark, I've never once forgotten him or stopped thinking about him. My husband never stopped talking about him and loving him, too, even when he was away from us for years."

"Really?" Leo asks.

"Really," Dinah assures. She nods at the pendant of his necklace and says, "But the people of Lucem – they need you more right now."

Leo frowns. He looks down at the pendant then remembers Perseus saying it holds more information regarding Lucem, his family, and the people of their home planet.

"Perseus says that he's caught wind of a group of Lucemians being traded off as workers in a planet not far from here. Your uncle, your mother's younger brother, will be there to rescue them, as he's been doing for years," Chuck says, thankful to Dinah for her help. "If you go back to Earth now, you will miss the opportunity of helping out these Lucemians. You may never be able to meet the last living member of your family either. But if you go, with Vanessa and Seo Woo, to meet Perseus there, you have a chance of accomplishing something that can change _your_ life and the lives of others."

"Don't worry about your family," Dinah adds. "They'll be under our surveillance. We'll send you updates throughout your journey."

"Also, if it helps..." Vanessa retrieves something from the pocket of her trousers as she walks towards Leo. Then, she hooks a slightly bigger, tear-drop shaped pendant on his necklace.

Leo frowns at the new pendant. Floating right at the middle of it is an orange crystal. "What's this?"

"It will be active in one year," Vanessa says, returning to her seat. She smirks when she sits down. "It's a beacon gem, from Caldera. Sef said she'll tell Skylar about it when she wakes up. She has one, too. That way, you both will know how to find each other when the time comes."

Leo examines the pendant. Right next to the one from Lucem, it looks like... _A promise._

 _We'll see each other again one day, somewhere in the stars_ , he had told her before he tossed the transporter device to her.

It sounded so easy then, as if the distance between them has only been an ocean and not galaxies. Now, with the new assignment he has of helping out those who are like him and Perseus, it seems a lot harder.

But Vanessa said they have one year.

They have a year to grow, change into new and better people, and hopefully then they can meet again.

Chuck also said his uncle, his _real_ uncle, will be there. _Maybe I can ask him about my mom._ "You said my family will be okay?" he asks Dinah.

Dinah nods. "Mark, Corvus, and I will see to it."

"Okay." Though still with a heavy heart, he asks Vanessa, "When are we leaving?"

Chuck smiles, relieved of his decision.

Vanessa, meanwhile, crosses her arms. "Three more days," she says, assuring him with a warm smile.

Leo nods, a seed of excitement growing hesitantly but steadily inside him for the new adventure they're about to face.

* * *

 _Last update: Epilogue_


	29. Epilogue

_Many thanks to AlienGhostWizard14, NaguraFlames, and Cinnybun for your continuous support of this story! Your words were really motivating. I didn't expect to get that much, if any, reads and reviews on this considering the Lab Rats fandom has been pretty inactive. But you three and all the other readers who may have silently enjoyed the story made this 10th Year Anniversary project so worthwhile. Thank you._

 _There are a couple of stories I need to focus on for the meantime, ones for other fandoms. Hopefully, though, this fall/winter, I'll be able to come back with a thriller/mystery that's been brewing for months now..._

 _Anyway, please enjoy this last update, and have a great weekend!_

* * *

Epilogue

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _26 Earth years later_

He struggles against the grasp of the men flanking him on both sides. They're taking him somewhere, someplace he more than likely doesn't want to go to, and he can barely resist. He's been a superhero for more than thirty years, and to have this person, whoever this is, sneak up on him and kidnap him successfully is telling of how good he or she is.

He or she must be the best in the business.

He tries to wriggle his hands free of the cuffs but to no avail. Strength has never been one of his abilities, but he does have one in mind that should've undone the bondage already.

 _Should've._ His kidnapper must have had ability dampeners prepared just for hostages like him.

"Get a move on it," the man on his right tells him through gritted teeth, pulling him harshly forward the gravelly walkway.

His jaw locks in anger. _Just wait 'til I get out of these._

The black sackcloth they pulled over his head at the restaurant parking lot has prevented him from seeing his surroundings. But focusing on the frayed glimpses coming through the cloth, he's able to tell when they step in from the lighter, fresher world outside to the much darker, staler building inside.

He's been to countless warehouses before not to immediately recognize its distinct scent. The pollution on Earth has gotten a lot worse over the decades, and the scent of the buildings themselves had soured more. Still, he can pick up the faint smell of rusting metals and faded paint.

He knows it all too well, even if his senses have gone a bit duller with age.

The men continue to yank him forward. As they do, he tries to list the possibilities of who may have done this to him. There's Riptide, who wasn't at all pleased when he helped the teen superhero squad R.A.G.E defeat him. _But Riptide's still in detention,_ he thinks. There's also the big bad that numerous teams of superheroes (and even some villains) are going against right now: Dr. Dare. _But he's never been interested in my kind,_ he thinks.

Then again, Dr. Dare's been known for his ability to elude his hunters by being unpredictable. Maybe his giant terrors need some fixing, and only he can do that.

Before he finishes wondering what the villain might say to him, he's pushed down onto a chair that tilted slightly with the force and weight. Someone pulls off the sack from his head, and he's left squinting under the big, bright dome light shining above him.

He glares at the two men walking away. He doesn't know who they are. He doesn't even remember seeing them anywhere around the restaurant while he and his wife were there.

Looking forward, he finally sees that he isn't left alone in the room. A distance away, under dimmer, softer lighting, sits a man whose face and whole being he's learned to detest for many, many years.

It's not just him there either. On the chairs that form a semi-circle around his are Super Nova, the anti-hero Tangent, and a man in a suit who must be a new member of The 7.

In the middle of them all sits Rhapsode, who seems to have only aged a couple of years from the last time he saw him.

He begins to wonder how that could be but shakes himself out of it immediately. No. There's only one person that he wants out of the five. "Time's catching up with you, isn't it, Black?" he sneers at the older, wearier member of The 7. For a moment, he feels bad making fun of his condition like this, but then he remembers that the villain has done things to deserve it. "How many years do you have left in you, you think?"

Rhapsode shifts in his seat in defense.

However, Corvus Black, sitting at his left, gently holds out a hand – a gesture to stop. He smiles a small, tired smile at their guest. "It's been a while since we've last seen each other," he says. "It's nice to finally meet you in person."

"That's because you were too much of a coward to face us the first time," he says, fuming.

Whether that has any effect at all on the villain, he doesn't know. Corvus' face gives no indication of his reaction whatsoever. "My apologies for pulling you out of your date night with your wife. Congratulations on your anniversary," Corvus says.

It angers him more, seeing the sincerity on his face. "If you do something to my wife, I promise you—"

"We have no plans of that, we can assure you," Super Nova says.

He glares at her. How dare she. "Traitor," he calls her.

Super Nova only smiles.

"It's come to our attention that you've been wanting to meet with us for years. It seems to have been a pressing concern," Corvus says. He gestures with open palms as he leans back on his chair. "We were wondering if we can still help you with it."

He scoffs, grinning bitterly. He thinks of the years – the _years_ they've made his life a misery, and now they're asking if they can help him with it? Out of frustration, absolute resentment, and also pity for his family, his eyes tear up.

But he covers it quickly with a laugh.

There's no way they will see him weak.

"Yeah, of course," he tells Corvus, nodding. "I'm going to need you, all of you, to die a slow and painful death."

Rhapsode moves to stand, but a hand from behind holds him down. "Easy, big brother," a woman says. Kalopsia rises from the darkness behind and goes to the empty chair on the right hand side of the omnilingual. She settles on her seat sideways, her legs are dangling on the left arm of the chair. "Leaders can't be too emotional," she says to Rhapsode while smirking at their guest.

"You..." he stammers, still unable to comprehend what his eyes see. "It's been almost thirty years. How can you still look..."

"Twenty-five? 'Cause I _am_ twenty-five," Kalopsia says. She leans back and scrutinizes him from head to toe. "You, though, you've aged. But, you look good. Then again, I guess you do have to maintain your looks for your profession and your pretty wife. By the way, congratulations on your anniversary."

He scoffs. Why did he ever think he could talk reason into horrible people like them? "I don't want anything from any of you," he tells them. "Now if we're done here, just let me go."

"Let you go? But you just got here!" Once more from the shadows, someone rises – hurriedly this time time.

He freezes upon seeing the easy-going, energetic young man sit down cross-legged on the empty chair between Kalopsia and Tangent.

"I know I'm late – sorry, hyungnim," the newcomer tells the new leader of The 7. He smiles. "Now, who's this guy again and what are we doing to him?"

He stares at him. That smile. That voice. He knows them so, so well – and it hurts him to remember how. "Leo," he mumbles.

Leo's eyes snap back at him, surprised. But then, he smiles again. "That's right," he says. "How'd you know who I am?"

"You were on worldwide TV," Kalopsia says, smirking at him.

"Oh, right. That thing," Leo says, his face wrinkling in disgust. He chuckles. "That seems like forever ago."

It hurts him more to hear that. "You don't know who I am?" he tries.

The twenty-five year old, who caries himself taller now and conducts himself with a hint more grace, frowns at him lightly. He takes his features in as Kalopsia had done but without the underlying motive of finding some flaw to tease him with. There's only innocence in his eyes and an absolute lack of recognition as he analyzes his clothes, his face, his eyes, his hair.

And he doesn't know if that is any better.

It's a stab on the heart when Leo shakes his head and says, "Should I?"

His eyes well up. He can feel their stare, the rest of The 7. They pity him, or maybe are basking in his misery, and he doesn't know if he can deal with the humiliation and broken heart.

He looks at them, not caring anymore if they see him weak. They won a long time ago, and they knew that. They only brought him here to remind him of it. "Just let me go," he tells Corvus Black.

Kalopsia looks down on her hand, seemingly unable to look upon his sadness. Rhapsode, on the other hand, continues to look at him, but his steely gaze has grown more gentle.

Leo, or The Balance as the superhero world calls him, only looks confused.

"He's a friend, Leo," Corvus tells the young man. "He's been sending us messages for years in hopes of meeting with all of us."

"Well, if he's a friend, why did we handcuff him?" The Balance asks.

"He's not a friend towards all the watchmen," Super Nova answers.

The Balance nods. "Oh."

"You're only keeping me here to mock me," he tells them.

"Not at all." Corvus Black takes a deep breath. He sits up. "We've heard about what happened to your father. We're also aware that the situation with Dr. Dare is getting out of hand. We're here to help."

"Help? All of the things happening on Earth today is a ripple effect of what you did years ago," he spits, "and now you're offering to _help_?"

"You seem a little tense."

"I'm looking at the faces of the people who ruined my family, took away three of my good friends, and who pretends to be the judges of the earth," he fires at Kalopsia. "Tell me why I shouldn't be tense."

"Whoa. Easy there, Suits," The Balance says, holding up his hands. "Let's take deep breaths, okay? And not turn into a rabid dog."

He glowers at him. He resents him almost as much as he resents the others, but he finds that the feeling doesn't linger as long.

So, he looks away.

"We've recently had a change in the active watchmen, as you can see," Super Nova explains. "Our new head watchman believes that he and our two youngest members can be of great assistance to you."

"Oh yeah?" He glares at Rhapsode and his unchanging, expressionless features. "He doesn't seem like he wants to help."

"Oh he does," The Balance says. He glances at the leader of The 7 then grins at their guest. "He just doesn't say much in front of people. He's shy. That's why we nominated him as the new head watchman. That way he has no choice but to talk with his deep, sexy voice."

Kalopsia laughs.

Corvus Black, Super Nova, and the nameless new member grin.

Rhapsode, meanwhile, only fights the urge to roll his eyes.

Pleased with their reactions, The Balance shrugs. "And we do want to help. We've read about this Dr. Dare, and we think it's time to get involved," he says. "The three of us, plus Skylar Storm, will help."

"Skylar?" he asks, once again surprised. "Skylar's alive?"

"Uh, yeah? Dude, she was never dead," The Balance says. He frowns at Kalopsia. "Humans really don't know of Skylar Storm anymore?"

"Of course I know Skylar! I will always know her. She was my friend," he asserts. He looks at The Balance in disappointment. "How could you have forgotten that?"

The Balance's brows quirk, once again confused.

Corvus sighs. "Understand him, Leo. Facing us right now is frustrating to him. Many things have happened to him and his family over the course of the twenty-six years you were gone from Earth." He looks at their guest apologetically. "I imagine it's especially hard. His oldest son just turned twenty—the age his youngest brother went missing almost three decades ago."

He watches with a sliver of hope as The Balance processes that information. The twenty-five year old's confused at first, which seems to have been his default since their conversation began, but he continues to work at it.

He can see The Balance's eyes shifting, calculating upon the invisible space the numbers given to him.

Just when he thinks he will never remember, The Balance's features clear.

The Balance – Leo – looks at him with cautious recognition. He looks at him again: his clothes, his face, his eyes, his hair—this time, with the objective of confirming his suspicion. His frown deepens. "Chase?" he says.

Chase feels as if his heart has dropped to the pit of his stomach then bounced back up to his chest. "Yes. Leo," he says happily. "You know who I am?"

Leo stares at him for a long moment, and for a brief second Chase fears that his brother doesn't remember him with the warm memories from years ago.

But then, Leo smirks, and Chase doesn't know if that means he does or doesn't.

Leo stands up from his seat then walks towards him. When he gets to the 47 year-old bionic, he holds a hand over the cuffs.

The metal cuffs glow white, brighter and brighter without getting hot. It increases in brightness until the metal has become white light in the shape of a cuff.

When Leo lifts his hand slightly, the light evaporates into the air.

Chase looks up at him, surprised at the never-before-seen ability.

"Chase Davenport. It's been a while," The Balance says. "Care to stay for a few more minutes? We have a proposition for you."

 **END.**


End file.
